بروس غامبل

📅 آخر تحديث: ١ أغسطس ٢٠٢٦
✍️ نُشر في: ١ أغسطس ٢٠٢٦
الموسوعة الحرة

كان بروس جورج غامبل (24 مايو 1938 - 29 ديسمبر 1982) حارس مرمى محترف في رياضة هوكي الجليد ، لعب في دوري الهوكي الوطني (NHL) بين عامي 1962 و1972، مع بعض الفترات في الدوريات الصغرى خلال تلك الفترة.

مسيرة مهنية للمبتدئين

لعب غامبل ثلاثة مواسم مع فريق بورت آرثر بروينز التابع لدوري ثاندر باي جونيور أيه للهوكي بين عامي 1953 و1955. وفي موسم 1955-1956، قاد فريق بورت آرثر نورث ستارز إلى التأهل لكأس ميموريال . وكرر الإنجاز في الموسم التالي مع فريق غويلف بيلتمور التابع لرابطة هوكي أونتاريو (OHA) ، وانتُخب ضمن الفريق الأول لنجوم الرابطة عام 1957. ووصل إلى كأس ميموريال للمرة الثالثة مع فريق هال-أوتاوا كانيديينز في العام التالي.

الحياة المهنية وما بعدها

لعب غامبل عامه الأول كلاعب محترف مع فريق فانكوفر كانوكس في دوري الهوكي الغربي (WHL) ، كما لعب مباراتين في دوري الهوكي الوطني (NHL) مع فريق نيويورك رينجرز. أثار أداؤه إعجاب فرق أخرى في دوري الهوكي الوطني، فاختاره فريق بوسطن بروينز في مسودة اختيار اللاعبين الداخليين لعام 1959. بعد عام قضاه مع فريق بروفيدنس ريدز في دوري الهوكي الأمريكي (AHL) ، أصبح غامبل حارس المرمى الأساسي للفريق في موسم 1960-1961. خلال المواسم الأربعة التالية، لعب بشكل رئيسي في دوريات الدرجة الثانية مع فرق بورتلاند باكاروز وكينغستون فرونتيناكس وسبرينغفيلد إنديانز ، ثم استدعاه فريق بروينز للعب 28 مباراة في موسم 1961-1962.

رفض غامبل العودة إلى دوري الدرجة الثانية في موسم 1964-1965 ، ولذلك أوقفه فريق بوسطن بروينز عن اللعب في سبرينغفيلد طوال الموسم. وفي العام التالي، تمّت مقايضته إلى فريق تورنتو مابل ليفز .

In his first few seasons in Toronto, Gamble was a back-up to Hall of FamersJohnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk. He recorded four shutouts in six games in March 1966. In 1966–67, when the Leafs won the Stanley Cup, he played in 23 regular season games and rang up a record of 5–10–4 and a GAA of 3.39. However, he was sent to the minors to the Tulsa Oilers before the trading deadline; as a result, he did not spend the whole season with Toronto, and his name was left off the Stanley Cup. With the loss of Sawchuk in the 1967 NHL expansion draft, Gamble saw more action with the Leafs and established himself as a solid, workhorse goalie. He played in 41 games in 1967–68, 62 in 1968–69 and 52 in 1969–70. He played in the 1968 NHL All-Star game and was named its Most Valuable Player. He was the last Leaf goalie to play without a mask, finally donning one in 1970-71. Gamble, along with a first-round selection (Pierre Plante) in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Bernie Parent and a second-round pick (Rick Kehoe) in the same draft as part of a three-way deal which also involved the Boston Bruins on January 31, 1971. The Leafs also sent Mike Walton to the Bruins who shipped Rick MacLeish and Danny Schock to the Flyers.[1]

Gamble served mainly as a back-up to Doug Favell with the Flyers for the rest of that season, appearing in 11 regular season games and two playoff games. The following year, he began to compete for the starting role. He put in a run of solid performances which ended when he suffered a heart attack during a 3–1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on February 8, 1972. Although he fell at one point during the game,[2] he did not complain of problems until afterward, and traveled with the team to Oakland on February 9 for a game that evening against the California Golden Seals. As his chest pains continued, Gamble was admitted to an Oakland hospital where it was found that he had had a heart attack.[3] Gamble did not play in the NHL again. Apparently, Gamble went missing for a number of years after 1972, with a multiple news stories stating that neither family nor former associates knew where he resided as late as 1979.[4][5]

On December 29, 1982, after a practice session the evening before with an old-timers hockey team, the Niagara Falls Flames, Gamble woke up with chest pains, and died at a hospital in Niagara Falls, Ontario, at the age of 44.[6]

Gamble was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.[7]

Urban legends

Because Gamble suffered both heart attacks after playing or practising hockey, accounts have been written that he was taken to a hospital during the 1972 NHL game, or that he "died during an old-timers game". Neither of Gamble's heart attacks forced him from the ice; he finished the game after the first attack and suffered the second one the morning after a practice session.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPWLTMINGASOGAASV%GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1952–53Port Arthur BruinsTBJHL11———6608207.45—————————
1953–54Port Arthur BruinsTBJHL3620151216015004.17—9——5404204.67—
1954–55Port Arthur BruinsTBJHL—————————————————
1955–56Port Arthur North StarsTBJHL311910218609703.13—9815402703.00—
1955–56Port Arthur North StarsMC—————————13768005304.74—
1956–57Guelph BiltmoresOHA40———236010262.59—10——6003403.40—
1956–57Guelph BiltmoresMC—————————6143702804.54—
1957–58Guelph BiltmoresOHA5013325300020514.10—————————
1957–58Providence RedsAHL110060101.00—————————
1957–58Hull-Ottawa CanadiensMC—————————131036103022.95—
1958–59New York RangersNHL30301801103.67.894————————
1958–59Vancouver CanucksWHL65292610390019973.06.8915233001122.20—
1959–60Providence RedsAHL7137322428023143.24—5143281903.48—
1960–61Boston BruinsNHL5212337311819303.71.892————————
1960–61Providence RedsAHL19613011408504.47—————————
1961–62Boston BruinsNHL286184168012114.32.879————————
1961–62Portland BuckaroosWHL4128112247610822.62—————————
1962–63Kingston FrontenacsEPHL68391811408022013.23—5413001312.60—
1963–64Springfield IndiansAHL21512312308003.90—————————
1965–66Toronto Maple LeafsNHL105235022142.51.925————————
1965–66Tulsa OilersCPHL5421249324015542.87—————————
1966–67Toronto Maple LeafsNHL23510511816703.40.900————————
1966–67Tulsa OilersCPHL72414202403.43—————————
1966–67Rochester AmericansAHL52303002505.00—————————
1967–68Toronto Maple LeafsNHL412014221948552.32.934————————
1968–69Toronto Maple LeafsNHL61282011343916132.81.914302861309.08.803
1969–70Toronto Maple LeafsNHL5219249305415653.06.915————————
1970–71Toronto Maple LeafsNHL23614112808323.89.882————————
1970–71Philadelphia FlyersNHL113626583703.37.9012021201206.01.821
1971–72Philadelphia FlyersNHL2478211845822.94.912————————
NHL totals3281111524618,470993223.23.9065042062507.28.809

References

  1. ↑O'Hara, Dave. "Mike Walton Traded to Bruins," The Associated Press, Monday, February 1, 1971.
  2. ↑Damien Cox and Gord Stellick, 67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire (J. Wiley & Sons Canada, 2006), p73; ("He asked teammate Barry Ashbee who had hit him, and Ashbee told him that nobody had")
  3. ↑"Heart Attack Sidelines Bruce Gamble", Winnipeg Free Press, February 10, 1972, p46
  4. ↑https://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press-may-25-1977-p-62/
  5. ↑https://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press-mar-15-1979-p-50/
  6. ↑Cox and Stellick, at p73-74
  7. ↑https://www.chroniclejournal.com/sports/gamble-backstopped-way-to-successful-pro-career/article_77257dd2-bbd4-11ef-8cb7-5b898eb1323c.html