Doug "Killer" Gilmour - The Story of 2 of the Most Lopsided Trades in NHL history.
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- čas přidán 6. 03. 2022
- Hockey Hall of Famer Doug “Killer” Gilmour was the centerpiece of two of the biggest and most lopsided trades in NHL history. Both deals were made amidst major controversies and were orchestrated by the same GM - Cliff Fletcher.
NHL teams originally dismissed young Doug Gilmour due to his size, but the St. Louis Blues gambled on him in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by selecting him with their seventh round pick.
The Blues returned him to the Cornwall Royals for the 1982-83 season where he led the OHL in goals (70), assists (107) and AND A LEAGUE-LEADING 177 points and was awarded the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's most outstanding player.
Gilmour would get his shot in the NHL and quickly had established himself as an outstanding two-way player for the Blues - and he was even chosen to play in the 1987 Canada Cup. His best season was a 105-point output in 1986-87 - his future in St. Louis looked bright.
But Gilmour became embroiled in a legal conflict.
One week later, on September 6, the Blues traded Gilmour to the Calgary Flames in a multi-player deal. Gilmour, Mark Hunter, Steve Bozek and Michael Dark were sent to Calgary in exchange for Mike Bullard, Craig Coxe and Tim Corkery. Gilmour expressed disappointment at leaving the Blues, but stated that "from what has happened the past week, on our part and on the St. Louis Blues' part, it was our best solution."
The charges against Gilmour were eventually dropped and he’d spend four and a half productive seasons with the Flames, scoring 81 goals and 295 points during his 266 games in Calgary.
He’s best remembered for scoring the winning goal in game 6 of the 1989 Stanley Cup finals as the Flames won their first and only Stanley Cup championship.
While Gilmour, freed from legal issues, was celebrating a Stanley Cup run, the remaining players in the trade struggled.
In the end, the trade turned out to be a lopsided steal for Flames GM Cliff Fletcher, who stated that the Flames could never have won the Cup without Gilmour.
In subsequent years, however, he’d become the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs and he’d orchestrate another steal involving Gilmour.
Gilmour had a salary arbitration hearing in the summer of 1991 that created tension between him and Flames GM Doug Risbrough.
On New Year's Eve 1991, Gilmour was named first star in a win over Montreal and he then promptly packed his bag. He decided he wouldn't play again until he was dealt.
"The deal was done 24 hours later."
And what a deal it was.
Hearing the move announced for the first time back then was a legitimately stunning experience; once the names started, they just kept rolling. The deal involved 10 players, with the Leafs sending Gary Leeman, Michel Petit, Jeff Reese, Craig Berube and Alexander Godynyuk to the Flames in exchange for Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley and Kent Manderville.
This bizarre trade wouldn’t have made sense even if Doug Gilmour hadn’t been included.
You know the trade is ominously bad when the highest scorer you received was Craig Berube (40 goals and 105 points in his remaining NHL seasons). If you ignore Doug Gilmour, even the other players dealt away scored almost exactly as much.
The key acquisition for the Flames was former 50-goal scorer Gary Leeman. But he had lost his scoring touch and scored just 11 goals in 59 games in Calgary.
Conversely, Gilmour would score 238 points over the next two seasons. He finished 2nd in NHL assists both years, and won the Selke trophy as the league’s best defensive forward. In addition, Macoun provided solid defensive play for several years.
From his arrival in January in Toronto through back-to-back conference finals appearances in the springs of '93 and '94, no forward not named Gretzky or Lemieux dominated like Gilmour.
The first 2½ years that Doug was in Toronto, he was arguably the best player in the NHL. He just carried the Leafs on his shoulders.
With the fiery Pat Burns behind the bench, Gilmour and his lunch-bucket teammates gave Leaf Nation lifetime memories with back-to-back conference finals appearances. The '93 run was especially memorable. The Leafs knocked off favored Detroit in the opening round, survived a seven-gamer with Curtis Joseph and St. Louis in the second round and pushed Gretzky and the Kings to seven games in the conference finals. The city of Toronto was electric.
The Leafs didn't win a Cup in those two years, but their fans still reminisce to that time as if it were a championship run.
Gilmour went on to play another eight seasons in the NHL while the rest of the trade participants disappeared into obscurity.
Gilmour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 and his uniform number 93 is retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Cliff Fletcher was enshrined in the hall of Fame in 2004 and undoubtedly his killer deals for Gilmour were a big reason why.
#calgaryflames #torontomapleleafs #stlouisblues - Sport
The 1989 flames were packed with legends
Doug Gilmour had an impact on every team he played for, because he had a passion for the game & a sense of commitment. I remember the 2002 playoffs, when Gilmour had 10 points in 12 games & was a huge factor in helping Montreal eliminating Boston in the first round. Sweet memories indeed!
He had so much passion he shared it with teenage girls
@@renlysotherlover294😂😂😂
The Gilmour trade to Toronto changed the Maple Leafs overnight. When the Leafs reacquired him in 2003 it created quite the buzz among the Maple Leafs fan base, until his second shift of his first game back. Torn Knee ligaments and the end of his career.
That was such a disappointment. It was over before it began.
He was almost done anyway torn ligaments or no. He could have stuck around as 3rd center & (unquestionably) their leader.
Dave Lowery, if I remember it correctly. Been 20 years.
A life long Bruins fan here- DG was truly a "complete" player . Every part of his game was strong. He went hard every shift he was on the ice . It was a treat to watch him play.
@6:31 at 16 years old, my best friend and I were directly behind Gilmour when he scored that triple overtime goal on Curtis Joseph. Top 5 goal in leaf’s history for me.
I was at home drinking beer. awesome moment.
@@TheBillaro my friend and I combined our money (every single cent), and bought 2 standing room tickets from a scalper. By the first overtime a couple left and gave us their seats behind the net. We watched the next 2 1/2 periods from premium seats. And saw that goal from mere feet away. We even had to split a TTC student ticket to make it back to Scarborough 🤣
@@georgehenry76 yea… true leafs fan for sure!!!! Only the die hards know what’s it like to remain loyal..
1989 Flames was a stacked team it's funny how they were the underdogs
I was at Doug's first game as a Maple Leaf at MLG in 1992, my dad and I both noticed this new player who so dramatically stood out, making plays up & down the ice, we looked up his name in the program, it was Doug Gilmour...
Wow! These trades never crossed my mind! You have such a great way of narrating; if you wanted to, you could make me believe that Craig Berube was the prize catch in that trade!! haha. Thanks again!
Glad to see u back making a video again so fast brother👍 the killer was always a favourite of mine as a kid, and me growing up a huge leafs fan. It was kind of a given. But hopefully this means we will see content more regularly👍😁 lol
Another great informative video...you are one of the best hockey channels out there and I havnt seen a video I didn't truly enjoy. Thank you for doing what you do!
Thanks so much … means a lot … I appreciate your kind words
Unfortunately, Doug Gilmour's return to the Maple Leafs in 2003, marked his last game ever played due to injury against the Calgary Flames.
Love this channel, .makes me reminisce about the old times
As a NJ diehard I was so pumped when they picked up Gilmour. Always sad to know that both Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk both missed on Cups during their time in NJ.
Let’s goooo!! Great video man!
I love Doug playing attitude. He led by example.
Finally, someone who is still alive. If all Toronto had received was Gilmour that still would have been a lopsided trade. As said below everywhere he went (except his 5 second return to Toronto at the end of his career) he was hugely important. And but for the sheer incompetence of Kerry Fraser perhaps the Leafs would have won the 1993 Cup instead of the Habs. They certainly would have been in the final which would have featured the Habs and Leafs, a CBC dream, if not a Bettman one.
Doug Gilmore is my 2nd cousin. I used to go over to his parents when they were alive. Dolly and Gilly, they were nice. Used to always see him at my great grandparents house.
7:20 As a young Wings fan that got the CBC on his TV back then, I remember feeling the electricity of that moment, and being super jealous. Preped me for 97. I feel for Leafs fans.
My favourite all time Leaf. He restored true honour to the club. Live through the Ballard years so say no more. Guts, grit, gritgirinder and basically a hero to me. Still to this day.
Gilmour and Clark, what a powerful combo for the leafs!
The Flames are notorious for making epic blockbuster deals:
Hull, Gilmour, Phaneuf, Iginla, now Tkachuk-Huberdeau.
Dougie Gilmour will always always ALWAYS be one of my most favourite Maple Leafs. I can remember back (not so long ago) when the Leafs had the dream team. They had so many skilled machines on the team, and for a short while all at the same time.
Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Dougie Gilmour, Alexander Mogilny, Tie Domi, Brian McCabe, Gary Roberts.... im missing more, but they all still remain so fresh in my mind. I miss those days.
You deserve a Cup, dammit. This year?
@@ProHockeyAlumni Sure do hope so! They've been good lately!
Forgot Clark!
Doug Gilmour used to live on my street in Montreal, around 2002-2003, so obviously, he had played for the Canadiens too!
what i remember about gilmour is he got the highest contract at the time (about a million a year if my shitty memory doesn't fail me) - and the local calgary sports show made fun of it with a meme of him taking a limousine to the net to score...
he was so offended, he refused any interviews from that station...
oh my, how things have changed...
I like the background song that is being used.
Although he never won a cup with the Leafs he brought great excitement to Toronto. When he was brought back to Toronto and only lasted one shift it sucked. He was a great player and one of the all time greatest Leafs.
Cliff did an awesome job. gave us two excellent cup runs
If any other team had done what the Leafs did in this trade, they would have been charged with tampering. Cliff Fletcher conveniently left for Toronto from Calgary but a few months earlier and "somehow" managed to bring Gilmore with him! History has shown that Maple Leafs management has never been afraid to do shady and questionable backroom dealings.
Your theory makes sense 👍
I think the flames were banking on that Gary Leeman was going to produce like he did in 89-90 and score 50 goals.
Leaf fans still talk about Gretzky's high stick in 93
1992-94 Leafs were the best hockey team Toronto had the past 50 years!
They were carried by Gilmour, Clark, Andreychuk, Anderson + seasoned backline incl. the underrated but critical Lefebvre & Macoun + Potvin at his peak in net. Death of Ballard + takeover of his share by Stavro who actually wanted to win gave us some real overdue hope.
When Stavro sold out to the corporate types, it all ended. Zero fucks were given as bucks were & continue to be made.
People in St. Louis are still pissed Gilmour got traded.
Got caught sleeping with the babysitter and ran out of town
I was sad to see him go and wish they could have gotten more for him. When you are married and doing the way underage babysitter and they are noisy about it, he had to go.
@@tomjudge7920 Rumour has it, he did the same thing in Calgary, hence the reason why the Flames traded him in a hurry, didn’t really care who they got in return.
Killer was 5’11” and 170 pounds but played like he was 6’4” 220 pounds,pure heart.
epic video
I could be that the people who know, knew best that Gilmour wasn't all that he thought he was. I could never understand why people thought was that good.
Gilmour had it all. He could set up plays, score, fight, truculence, belligerent, and he never gave up.
Burkie?
Diddler Dougie…
I was only 16 when this trade went down, but I had been a huge Flames fan for 4 years at that point, and this trade angered the hell out of me. Gilmour walking out angered me, but I was savvy enough about hockey to know that this trade was a massive turd for the Flames. I did get the opportunity to meet Leeman (and get his autograph) and wished him luck, but at that point his play at that point was already on the way down.
I still shake my head, and point out that after this trade, the Flames only made the playoffs once until their run in 2004, and squandered away *so many* draft picks. Scouting and management were heaps of garbage >_> Literally the only great thing they did was acquire Iginla. Hells, in the 1990 entry draft, they traded *up* with the Devils in order to draft Trevor Kidd, while the Devils used the lower pick they got to draft Martin Brodeur. Can you imagine how much different the 90s could have gone for the Flames if they'd had Brodeur in net, instead of Reese, Trefilov, Kidd, Muzzatti, Tabby Cat, Roloson, Brathwaite, Wregget, JS Gig-.. ok he was good, but we traded him.. you get the picture I'm sure.
Mind you, the training and development staff probably would have wasted Brodeur >_>
The Flames made the playoffs in 1993 1994 1995 And 96 losing in the first round mind you not much. But more than once.
Still want to see Dangle do a trade tree on the Hull and Gilmour trades.
Final irony Gary Leeman was the only player who actually won a Stanley Cupa while later with the Habs
What a great trade (both) times. Albeit for only half of the teams involved. Gilmour was such a great player. He made that Calgary team unstoppable really. The had Nieuwendyk & Gilmour as there first two centers. That'd be great great in any era. Then he (& the others fellas) rose the Leafs from the ashes & made them contenders. Lastly, what a great nickname "Killer". Fits like a glove.
Interestingly, Alexander Godynyuk was involved with the end of the John Cullen era in Hartford (the other lopsided trade). He was solid defenseman in his time there in Hartford in the mid-1990s.
115 games over 4 seasons, with 19pts and a -2 rating is solid? The guy was lucky he made it 4 more seasons.
Jamie M. Pretty darned good D-man ...sweet pickup
Gilmour was awesome. I watched the Leafs and Sabres play at the old Buffalo Aud. Cheaper, (and way better fans) to watch the Leafs in Buffalo than it was to see them in TO. Sat high in the end seats, and had the pleasure of watching Gilmour and LaFontaine basically dictate the way the game went whenever they were on the ice. The speed, awareness, puck sense, those two were head and shoulders above everyone else on the ice.
good observations .. thx!
That trade would go on to haunt the Flames for several seasons. The 1991-92 campaign would be the first year the Flames missed the playoffs since moving to Calgary from Atlanta in 1980. The honeymoon from the 1989 Stanley Cup victory was definitely over. Cliff Fletcher left the Flames because he knew there was trouble ahead for the franchise. Calgary would earn playoff berths in 93,94,95 and 96 but never made it out of the first round. Mediocre teams and a never ending revolving door of coaches and GM’s became the norm. Acquiring Gilmour prior to the Stanley Cup winning season of 1988-89 was the final piece of the puzzle for the Flames. The ten player trade on January 3,1992 was the polar opposite. Cliff Fletcher and the Leafs clearly won that lopsided deal. The sad part was that most hockey fans knew it first.
gilmour was acquired during the '85-'86 season, the flames first trip to the finals. It was the ramage/ wamsley deal for brett hull that was the final piece to put flames over the top.
The flames were banking on Gary leeman putting up 50 goals like
He did for the leafs in 89-90.
and yet the Leaf's still haven't won the cup.
Last time I saw him in person he was loafing in the neutral zone refusing to back check against casperitis series ending goal. Must have been great in other towns
Killer was pure magic. Never seen a player make such a massive impact so quickly. It was more than his 2-way ability. His energy was unreal. He would jump the boards at the gardens and you could feel the whole building watching him. He would throw heavy checks to guys twice his size, his teeth were constantly getting knocked out and he made something happen on every single shift. The team was awful before him and they were amazing after he showed up. Wendel was a great player but didn't become a star until killer showed up. Grapes wasn't wrong when he said he was the best player in the world because at that time he really was.
You should watch more hockey.
Funny how things turn out. Lee an stunk in Calgary, got trades to the Habs, wins a cup. WTF
People forget the rumours in Calgary at the time...
The deal for lanny in '81 was the key deal for flames as he was the leader of those teams that went to the finals. The one sided gilmour trade with blues helped turn flames into a cup contender but don't forget the other deal fletcher made to put flames over the top. Trading future 700 plus goal scorer brett hull to blues for ramage and wamsley. Fletcher always liked to deal. Yet fletcher panicked after the '90 first round ouster to kings and began moving players from the cup team like mullen out. Even tho lanny and peplinski-the leaders of that team-plus loob retiring to europe hurt flames the most. Then fletcher saw the writing on the wall that flames would have a hard time keeping their star players and split for t o as macinnis, suter, vernon, neiuwendyk, roberts (retiring then unretiring to play for canes) all were dealt before becoming f a's with the last remnant of the cup team fleury being traded to av's in '99 before he could walk as a f a. Then fletcher cashed in on another glilmour contract demand and totally ripped off his former player doug risebourogh in that deal as flames overvalued gary leeman who had one fluky 50 goal season yet was nowhere near a big time scorer. He also got macoun in that deal as well and that brought leafs back to some of their glory days coming out of the crusty harold ballard era. And lost in all of that is a good as gilmour was for leafs those few years even with his hacking and whacking gretzky all over the ice in the '93 wcf he couldn't stop gretz in the game seven la win where his hat trick put kings into the finals.
Gilmour had to be pretty good for Don Cherry to kiss his cheek.
Saw manderville score the only goal in a 1-0 flyers win over red wings in 2001.
Fletcher fleeced his boy Riseborough. Read Fleury's book .
Kids today talk about Matthews being the greatest Leaf of all time. They never got to watch Dougie. We Devils fans got him when his career was tapering off, but it was still great to see him in our uniform.
Doug was winner -- that is for sure. Thanks for your comment.
Matthews never SA’d a 14-year-old, so there is that at least.
BUT still no Stanley Cup for the Leafs😐
IT'S like the quest for the Holy Grail, or Man United before, & after Fergie at Old Trafford.
This is the first time I've ever heard "killer" in his name, who dubbed him that and why? He was a great player but I wouldn't say a "killer" on the ice. 🤔🤣
You gotta blame Doug - that was the title of his autobiography 👍
As bad as they trade between St. Louis & Calgary was the Toronto trade was worse. (If that's even conceivable.)
Maybe you can say the real reason Leeman was shipped out. That's a documentary in itself.
The difference between the Blues and Blackhawks is staggering. The Blues get rid of bad human beings and the hawks seek them out and give them promotions.
LOL! The Blues were trying to get a return for him BEFORE the news about the lawsuit broke. Then the Blues ownership had a corrupt, paid-for city official attack the victim and the victim’s lawyer and drop the case. It was like 100x worse than what the Hawks did, which was effectively delay reporting an improper relationship to HR for 2 weeks while the playoffs were ongoing.
Dude, Gilmour was a punk. If it wasn't for having some serious heavy hitters that has his back he wouldn't have been what he was. As a Flyers fan I remember him yapping and running away from fights and just running his mouth.
I wish he didn't use such bad judgment with the Blues off the ice. He and Hull would have been quite the tandem.
right .. the Blues had a great string of centers for Hull -- Killer, Oatesy, Janney and even Zezel
@@ProHockeyAlumni But they could never keep any of them for more than a few years.
@@ProHockeyAlumni I still can’t understand why the Blues traded Oates when he had such good chemistry with Hull. As good as Janney may have been, he didn’t click with Hull. Had Oates remained with the Blues, I’m convinced Hill could have scored 100 in a season with the advent of expansion. (Iron Mike also threw a wrench into things…)
It's high time Toronto puts a Stanley cup team on the ice. I'm not even from Canada but in ready to see a Toronto maple leaf Stanley cup banner.
Agreed!
À true warriors.
Leaf Gilmour was electrical
Where is the rest of the video? Gilmour played 8 more seasons with 4 other teams.
the video was about the two Flames trades only. thx
Leafs had some character players in the early 90s
Watching Andreychuk score 50 goals whilst skating at a snails pace was entertaining.
Kerry Fraser gets the Win in the Tor/LA series...what a Knob
If you find lopsided trades interesting, how about the Brett Hull trade from Calgary to St. Louis? What were they thinking???
At the time it wasn't that bad. Ramage solidified the defence. Hull was a one way player and they had scorers. Hindsight ya, it was a bad trade for Calgary. Not nearly as bad as the Gilmour trade to Toronto. Everyone knew it was bad for the Flames, then and now. Except maybe Doug Reisbrough.
Reading some of the clippings at the time, the Flames knew they were taking a risk trading Hull. They knew he could score, but they were concerned about the rest of his game. It was like the old stock market saying, “Buy low and sell high.” I suspect that Calgary figured Hull to be a 40’or even 50-goal scorer; had they the virtue of hindsight, perhaps they might have held onto him knowing they had a 70-80 goal man in their ranks.
Calgary were solidifying a Cup winning team. They did not need Hull, they needed a solid defenceman like Ramage. They obviously made the right move, as they did get their Cup.
It's too bad he didn't just stay in Toronto longer.... Even if it meant being third liner
Should have won the Hart in '93
As good as Gilmour was that year, Mario was out of this world. The dude turned the scoreboard into a Christmas tree.
My favourite all time player He woke the whole country up with the Grief’s I never seen the city like that before Calgary to best Grief’s
Sakic fight was great
What if the Leafs got Sakic instead of Sundin?
Gilmour was a decent player whose status was only elevated because he played in Toronto where the fans & media convinced themselves he was basically Gretzky
he was basically Gretzky but was missing out on the "once per game, uncalled egregious high sticking" upgrade perk.
Never won a cup in Toronto. Retired his number? Best player in the league? He carried the team to what? He was a little pip squeak.
StL’s attempt to deal him to CAL before the lawsuit news broke, and the StL ownership’s effort with a corrupt StL political official friend to attack the accuser and her family’s lawyer, is one of the worst cover-ups in NHL history. Absolute corruption between a wealthy team owner and a city official.
Yet Leeman won the cup less then 2 years later 😉
Blues traded Gilmore liked the babysitter a bit to much ,babysitter was a blues employee daughter,, wasn’t dropped settled is a better word ,
1993. Kerry F*kn Fraser.
Sorry but the Lindros trade wins this bet.
More like happy Gilmour
14 year old girl? And when he was married? Funny how certain individuals get away with things that wpuld virtually ruin a regular civilians life
Damn, people have been pulling the sexual assault money grab for a long time
Shouldn't it be diddler Gilmore
❤❤🆚✴️k
😂🎉
Umm...was he guilty of molesting that 14 year old? I mean, kinda jumped over that and started kissing his arse because he is a good hockey player.
Case dropped. No charges filed. No civil suit. Not much more to elaborate on.
GET RID OF THE MUSIC!
Gilmour was over rated....he's more like happy Gilmour ☺️
The reason DG was available to Toronto was because of his off ice sexual habits. In his career he was moved around from city to city more than a Catholic priest…
Just casually brush over the whole dude is a sex offender and on to his highlights. Fandom is unmatched in psychotic loyalty.
You know something the rest of us don't ? By your assertion, I'd have to think so !! So, go ahead; please elaborate.... we await your facts, info & enlightenment concerning those allegations against Gilmour.
Please tell us how you know better than the judge who threw the case out
My memory is fuzzy; I thought that at one point, he got divorced and married his former babysitter.
@@craigfazekas3923 Well his wife divorced him over it so I guess she knows something you don’t.
@@Peoplesrepublicoffortnite or his wife that divorced him over it. Judges always favour rich athletes. Wives sometimes don’t.
Lol leafs will never win the cup.
LOL "Killer" since when? I watched the Leafs all through Dougie G's career and NO ONE EVER called him Killer... it was Dougie G.... Not killer.... You are a hack click bait site....
Doug titled his autobiography “Killer”
@@ProHockeyAlumni then hes an idiot! No one ever called him Killer
The fact he played for the Devils should tell you he didn’t have respect for anyone. He gleefully watched Stevens go head hunting and cheered it on.
Loved Gilmore during the time with the Leafs