Gilbert's legacy as 'Mr. Ranger' continues to grow one year after death

One year after her legendary husband's death, Judy Gilbert speaks of emotions and grief and how they are two very different things.

Gilbert, the man known as "Mr. Ranger," arguably the most famous and most beloved New York Rangers player of all time, died of cancer on Aug. 19, 2021. But a year later, his presence is still profoundly felt within his only NHL team and well beyond.
His very full life is felt by his wife with joy; his passing remains an open wound.

"It seems like 10 years," Judy Gilbert with an unsteady voice said in the days leading to the first anniversary of her husband's death. "You can control emotions with your thoughts but you can't control the grief. That's going to show up no matter what you're thinking. It's going to come.

"Your conscious mind is aware when you have a negative thought. You say, 'Wait a minute.' If you have a generosity of spirit and you have gratitude, it helps. But that doesn't help with the grief."

Rod and Judy Gilbert walk the red carpet before the 2007 Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto (left) and on vacation in Greece in 2018, their final trip abroad.

She cherishes a sterling silver locket that her husband had bought not long before his death.

More accurately, Gilbert had his stepdaughter, Brooke, buy it for him and tuck it away for safekeeping. In fragile health, he knew his days were short as he battled cancer and he wanted the locket to be a way that his wife, Judy, could keep him close to her heart after he was gone.

When the time was right, Gilbert would offer Judy the gift. Now was the time, in his final days last August, living in hospice care in the couple's upper east side apartment.

Father Donald Baker, the priest of Church of St. Monica in New York, met Brooke in the lobby of the apartment building and rode 33 floors up. There he blessed the locket and gave it to Gilbert, who presented it to his wife. In it were the two photos he had chosen: one from the couple's 1991 wedding day, the other of himself smiling.

Four days later, Gilbert was gone. Father Baker would celebrate the life of the Rangers cornerstone five nights later at St. Monica's in a 75-minute memorial service.

"Rod just wanted me to have something," Judy Gilbert said of the locket.

Of course, the iconic Rangers forward had given his wife, and countless more, a great many things.

Indeed, he is woven into the Rangers uniform, so important to the organization that forward Chris Kreider wept, Judy Gilbert said, upon winning the inaugural Mr. Ranger award last April. The prize will be presented annually to the player "who best honors Rod's legacy by exemplifying leadership qualities both on and off the ice and making a significant humanitarian contribution to his community."

New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider takes a face-off wearing the commemorative Rod Gilbert patch sewn on the team's 2021-22 jerseys, and at Madison Square Garden with Judy Gilbert on April 27, 2022, receiving the Rangers' inaugural No. 7 Award.

Born July 1, 1941 in Princeville, Quebec and raised in Montreal, Gilbert seemed destined for the glamorous Big Apple. Talented, brash and larger than life with matinee-idol good looks, he was a thousand-watt presence in New York hockey and on the city's social scene.

Gilbert played every one of his 1,065 regular-season NHL games for the Rangers from 1961-77, scoring 1,021 points (406 goals, 615 assists); his points and goals remain Rangers records, his assists second only to the 741 of defenseman Brian Leetch. In 79 Stanley Cup Playoff games, he scored 67 points (34 goals, 33 assists).

The eight-time NHL All-Star, who 50 years ago this September represented Canada in the historic 1972 Summit Series against a team from the Soviet Union, most famously played right wing on the Rangers' G-A-G Line (Goal-A-Game), with Jean Ratelle at center and Vic Hadfield at left wing. Gilbert's No. 7 was the first of now 10 numbers retired by the Rangers, raised to the Garden rafters on Oct. 14, 1979.

Rod Gilbert in action with Team Canada during the 1972 Summit Series, and with Rangers linemates Jean Ratelle (center) and Vic Hadfield on Dec. 2, 2018 at Hadfield's jersey retirement at Madison Square Garden.

Gilbert would recover from two back-fusion surgeries to become one of the most thrilling players of his generation, awarded the 1975-76 Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, and awarded the 1991 Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to hockey in the United States.

From his retirement in November 1977 until almost his death, Gilbert worked tirelessly for charities in his adopted home of New York, raising funds for and awareness of myriad causes. Almost impossibly, he was even more popular off the ice than he was on it, transcending hockey to be among the most revered figures in all of New York sports.

Courtesy MSG Network

Judy Gilbert quickly replied to a message a few days ago asking whether she'd be willing to share a few thoughts about her late husband. Rather than take time to distil them, she phoned within minutes. Her immediate concern was for Marilyn Esposito, whose legendary husband, Tony, had died nine days before Gilbert. And then she spoke of Mr. Ranger.

"The first thing that came to my mind about Rod was the word love," she said. "Rod loved a song called 'Till There Was You' because it spoke to him about me. Listen to the lyrics: 'There was love all around, but I never heard it singing, No, I never heard it at all, Till there was you. …' "

Rod Gilbert attends the Friars Club's Sunshine Committee Holiday Party at the Ziegfeld Theater on Dec. 13, 2014 in New York City.

The song was written in 1950 as a show tune, originally titled 'Til I Met You,' made famous in the 1957 stage musical "The Music Man." It was given huge life in 1963 by The Beatles, their version recorded for their second album.

"Rod always loved that song," Judy Gilbert said. "It really does speak of the love that he had for me and that I had for him. You just start noticing all the miracles and wonders of the world. That was the way he felt about me, and that was how I felt about him."

She speaks about the profound love that Rod had for his two children, her two daughters and the couple's seven grandchildren.
Only lately has she been digging into the mountain of messages sent to her upon her husband's death. Sports stars and A-list celebrities from every sphere who were friends of this power couple shared their memories in a few or in many words.

Rod Gilbert, at the microphone, and Brian Leetch on stage during Ronald McDonald House New York's Skate With The Greats on Feb. 21, 2020 in New York City. Gilbert and Leetch worked closely together on the Rangers' Gardens of Dreams Foundation and for many other charitable causes, Ronald McDonald House among their favorites.

"They all talked about how Rod's smile lit up a room," she said. "A couple of weeks ago I was with Dr. Ray Geronomis, our dermatologist, and all he talked about was how Rod took him to a Rangers game.

"He said, 'We couldn't walk two feet without someone stopping him. The guy was so loved. We couldn't get to our seats but I had the best time of my life.'

"I used to walk ahead because I could never get anywhere. They loved Rod. The fans loved him, his teammates, the next-generation players after him like Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, they had so much love for him.

"Why was this? Rod was kind, sometimes to a fault, a great storyteller, he was funny. We could talk about his charity work all day long. He was Mr. Ranger at Madison Square Garden, 'The World's Most Famous Arena.' "

In his second full NHL season, Rod Gilbert shoots on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bower during a 1963 game at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Gilbert never worried about his legacy, selected in 2017 as one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players as part of the League's Centennial year, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982. Until nearly his death, he was too busy working in the community, not enough hours in a day to help improve the lives of those in need or engage with fans.
Today, Judy Gilbert continues to push ahead with many of his and the couple's charity endeavors, with the Rangers' Garden of Dreams Foundation and others.

On Aug. 19, the first anniversary of his passing, Judy will be with family and friends. She will find a time and a fashion to reflect upon and celebrate the memory of her husband, as she has every day of the past year.

She has a sterling silver locket by which to remember her husband, two precious photos in a keepsake that's priceless because of the thought behind it, chosen for her as his final gift. In her heart, she has so much more.

"Rod was just so special and thoughtful," she said, "right till the very end."