Gordie Roberts

Gordon Dennis Roberts (born October 2, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 1,097 NHL regular season games from 1979 to 1994. He was a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is an honoured member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

For other people named Gordon Roberts, see Gordon Roberts (disambiguation).
Gordie Roberts
Roberts with the New England Whalers in 1976
Born (1957-10-02) October 2, 1957
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for Hartford Whalers
Minnesota North Stars
Philadelphia Flyers
St. Louis Blues
Pittsburgh Penguins
Boston Bruins
National team  United States
NHL Draft 54th overall, 1977
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1975–1996

His brother Doug Roberts is also a former NHL player.

Amateur career

Roberts was named after Detroit Red Wings star Gordie Howe, who was eventually Roberts' teammate in Hartford, and grew up playing junior hockey in the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League for the Detroit Jr. Red Wings.

Professional career

Roberts was drafted in the third round, 54th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. His professional career started in 1975 when he was signed as a 17-year-old underage junior by the WHA New England Whalers. He represented the Whalers in the 1977 and 1978 WHA All-Star Game and was still with New England when the NHL and WHA merged in 1979.

In 1980, the Whalers traded Roberts to the Minnesota North Stars for Mike Fidler. He remained a North Star for eight seasons before moving to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1988, who promptly traded him to the St. Louis Blues after only 11 games. During this time, Roberts also played for Team USA in the 1984 Canada Cup as well as the 1982 and 1987 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments.

Roberts won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992 and became the first American player to appear in 1,000 NHL games, in 1992. He played for the Boston Bruins during his final two years in the NHL, then played two more seasons in the International Hockey League before finally retiring at age 39 in 1996 -- the last of Gordie Howe's old NHL teammates still on the ice. (Incredibly, Howe himself still wasn't done as a player, making a cameo appearance with the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1997, at the age of 69.)

Post playing career

Roberts served as the player/coach of the 1994–95 International Hockey League Chicago Wolves as well as the assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In recent years, he has worked as a pro scout for the Montreal Canadiens, specializing in Western Canada and the Western U.S. In 2012, Roberts became the head coach for the Elk River High School boys hockey team in Elk River, Minnesota. For the 2017-2018 season, he was an assistant coach for the Maple Grove Senior High School Crimson boys hockey team.

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Detroit Jr. Red Wings SOJHL 70 25 55 80 340 — — — — —
1974–75 Victoria Cougars WCHL 53 19 45 64 145 12 1 9 10 42
1975–76 New England Whalers WHA 77 3 19 22 102 17 2 9 11 36
1976–77 New England Whalers WHA 77 13 33 46 169 5 2 2 4 4
1977–78 New England Whalers WHA 78 15 46 61 118 14 0 5 5 29
1978–79 New England Whalers WHA 79 11 46 57 113 10 0 4 4 10
1979–80 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 8 28 36 89 3 1 1 2 2
1980–81 Hartford Whalers NHL 27 2 11 13 81 — — — — —
1980–81 Minnesota North Stars NHL 50 6 31 37 94 19 1 5 6 17
1981–82 Minnesota North Stars NHL 79 4 30 34 119 4 0 3 3 27
1982–83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 3 41 44 103 9 1 5 6 14
1983–84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 8 45 53 132 15 3 7 10 23
1984–85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 6 36 42 112 9 1 6 7 6
1985–86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 76 2 21 23 101 5 0 4 4 8
1986–87 Minnesota North Stars NHL 67 3 10 13 86 — — — — —
1987–88 Minnesota North Stars NHL 48 1 10 11 103 — — — — —
1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 1 2 3 15 — — — — —
1987–88 St. Louis Blues NHL 11 1 3 4 25 10 1 2 3 33
1988–89 St. Louis Blues NHL 77 2 24 26 90 10 1 7 8 8
1989–90 St. Louis Blues NHL 75 3 14 17 140 10 0 2 2 26
1990–91 St. Louis Blues NHL 3 0 1 1 8 — — — — —
1990–91 Peoria Rivermen IHL 6 0 8 8 4 — — — — —
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 61 3 12 15 70 24 1 2 3 63
1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 2 22 24 87 19 0 2 2 32
1992–93 Boston Bruins NHL 65 5 12 17 105 4 0 0 0 6
1993–94 Boston Bruins NHL 59 1 6 7 40 12 0 1 1 8
1994–95 Chicago Wolves IHL 68 6 22 28 80 3 0 0 0 4
1995–96 Minnesota Moose IHL 37 1 12 13 44 — — — — —
WHA totals 311 42 144 186 502 46 4 20 24 79
NHL totals 1,097 61 359 420 1,582 153 10 47 57 273

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1982 United States WC 7 3 4 7 12
1984 United States CC 6 1 0 1 6
1987 United States WC 10 0 1 1 33
Senior totals 23 4 5 9 51

See also
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