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Just curious if you ever crossed paths with Lloyd Gilmour - Unfortunately, he passed away due to complications from Alzheimer's today at the age of 82.
Gilmour spent 19 years as an official in the NHL. He refereed the very first Vancouver Canucks NHL game in October 1970, a 3-1 Canucks loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Former Canucks play-by-play commentator Jim Robson recalls that Gilmour was an official who let the players play.
"He was always communicating to the players," said Robson. "He was a real character and a fun guy to be around."
At a roast honouring Gilmour in 2004, Orland Kurtenbach, who captained the Canucks in their early years, said Gilmour's presence on the ice and his penchant for letting the game flow earned him a lot of respect from the players.
"Lloyd was a working man's referee," Kurtenbach said during the Jan. 26 roast. "There were individual things that occurred on the ice, like fighting, and Lloyd was good at getting right to who were the originators of the problems and giving penalties accordingly.
"He didn't even things up. If one team was causing most of the stuff, they'd get 10 penalties and the other team would get two or three. It's an appreciation from the players in terms of calling a spade a spade."
Nanaimo councillor Larry McNabb was a friend and former Western Hockey League player and he said Gilmour didn't hesitate to let players know he was watching them for any hijinks.
"Even after he made it to the NHL, Lloyd still refereed a few Western League games," said McNabb. "He would say things like, 'McNabb I'm not going to take any guff from you tonight,' though he would use coarser words."
McNabb recalls one game when he was playing in Providence and Gilmour was officiating the game.
"We were skating around during the warmup and Lloyd was telling me to play a clean game, then he asked me where Dody, my wife was. I pointed to the stands and showed him. It was a small arena and Lloyd skated over and yelled to her, 'Dody, don't go anywhere fast because Larry may need to go with you.'"
Robson said being a former player, Gilmour could see the game from their perspective.
"When he played in Nanaimo and in North Vancouver, he was a tough guy, sometimes amassing as many as 400 minutes in penalties a season. That's why he could relate to the players, he understood the game."
Hockey commentator and former player Howie Meeker became a fishing buddy of Gilmour's.
"He was a good referee who did things his way and was the last of a dying breed when referees could be more independent. Today, the league keeps referees in line but Lloyd was one of the best," Meeker said.
Bob Hall, the NHL's senior manager of officials, attended Gilmour's officiating school in Banff, Alta., in the early 1970s."By the time I hit the NHL ice in the late '70s, Lloyd had retired but he remained a legend. He'd done it all," said Hall.
In 1975, Sports Illustrated had this to say about Gilmour: "The 42-year-old Gilmour is the NHL's best official because he is virtually an invisible man on the ice." Gilmour left the NHL in 1976 as the No. 1-rated official in the league. That was a momentous year for Gilmour.
Not only did he referee the controversial Philadelphia Flyers-Soviet Red Army game at the Spectrum in January, but in March he refereed the only penalty-free game in Canucks history.
http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Legendary+referee+dies/3413078/story.html
Gilmour spent 19 years as an official in the NHL. He refereed the very first Vancouver Canucks NHL game in October 1970, a 3-1 Canucks loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Former Canucks play-by-play commentator Jim Robson recalls that Gilmour was an official who let the players play.
"He was always communicating to the players," said Robson. "He was a real character and a fun guy to be around."
At a roast honouring Gilmour in 2004, Orland Kurtenbach, who captained the Canucks in their early years, said Gilmour's presence on the ice and his penchant for letting the game flow earned him a lot of respect from the players.
"Lloyd was a working man's referee," Kurtenbach said during the Jan. 26 roast. "There were individual things that occurred on the ice, like fighting, and Lloyd was good at getting right to who were the originators of the problems and giving penalties accordingly.
"He didn't even things up. If one team was causing most of the stuff, they'd get 10 penalties and the other team would get two or three. It's an appreciation from the players in terms of calling a spade a spade."
Nanaimo councillor Larry McNabb was a friend and former Western Hockey League player and he said Gilmour didn't hesitate to let players know he was watching them for any hijinks.
"Even after he made it to the NHL, Lloyd still refereed a few Western League games," said McNabb. "He would say things like, 'McNabb I'm not going to take any guff from you tonight,' though he would use coarser words."
McNabb recalls one game when he was playing in Providence and Gilmour was officiating the game.
"We were skating around during the warmup and Lloyd was telling me to play a clean game, then he asked me where Dody, my wife was. I pointed to the stands and showed him. It was a small arena and Lloyd skated over and yelled to her, 'Dody, don't go anywhere fast because Larry may need to go with you.'"
Robson said being a former player, Gilmour could see the game from their perspective.
"When he played in Nanaimo and in North Vancouver, he was a tough guy, sometimes amassing as many as 400 minutes in penalties a season. That's why he could relate to the players, he understood the game."
Hockey commentator and former player Howie Meeker became a fishing buddy of Gilmour's.
"He was a good referee who did things his way and was the last of a dying breed when referees could be more independent. Today, the league keeps referees in line but Lloyd was one of the best," Meeker said.
Bob Hall, the NHL's senior manager of officials, attended Gilmour's officiating school in Banff, Alta., in the early 1970s."By the time I hit the NHL ice in the late '70s, Lloyd had retired but he remained a legend. He'd done it all," said Hall.
In 1975, Sports Illustrated had this to say about Gilmour: "The 42-year-old Gilmour is the NHL's best official because he is virtually an invisible man on the ice." Gilmour left the NHL in 1976 as the No. 1-rated official in the league. That was a momentous year for Gilmour.
Not only did he referee the controversial Philadelphia Flyers-Soviet Red Army game at the Spectrum in January, but in March he refereed the only penalty-free game in Canucks history.
http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Legendary+referee+dies/3413078/story.html
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