89 Champs: Where Are They Now: Doug Gilmour

Doug Gilmour spent 5 years in St. Louis with the Blues before joining Calgary in 1988-89 and he helped propel the Flames to their first and only Stanley Cup victory. That season was one of Gilmour’s best over his long and storied NHL career. In 72 games, Doug Gilmour had 85 regular season points and 22 points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He saved his best and most timely game for Game 6 of the Finals where he scored two third period goals to help the Flames win the Cup.

As with all things in sports, business, not sport, eventually takes over. Gilmour played another season and a half with Calgary, but the Flames and Gilmour couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract. Halfway through the 1991-92 season the Flames completed one of the worst trades in NHL history. They sent Gilmour, Rick Wamsley, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress and Kent Manderville to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Gary Leeman, Craig Berube, Michel Petit, Alexander Godynyuk and Jeff Reese. That was the end of the Flames run and Gilmour’s career would continue to sky rocket.

Gilmour would go on to play 11 more seasons in the NHL for the Maple Leafs, Devils, Sabres, Blackhawks and Canadiens. He would play in a total of 1474 NHL games and amass a total of 1414 points over his storied career. Oddly enough, with all those games under his belt, 1988-89 would be the only time Gilmour would ever hoist the Stanley Cup. Gilmour would ultimately would end up retiring from the NHL in 2002-03. He collided with Calgary’s Dave Lowry and tore his ACL, which ended up forcing him into retirement.

Since leaving the NHL Doug Gilmour has tried his hand at coaching. He was part of Toronto’s player development staff from 2006-2008. He then became an assistant for the Toronto Marlies for a few months before taking the head coaching job with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. He remained in that position for 3 seasons, stepping down in 2011 and becoming the team’s GM, a position he still holds to this day.

Doug Gilmour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 and had his number honored by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009.

by Mark Parkinson