He had four seasons with at least 80 points, including in 1971-72 when he had 43 goals and 54 assists.
He had learned he’d been selected as an emergency call-up to the Rangers, but while playing in a junior game in 1960, he skated over debris and fell into the boards, sustaining an injury that required spinal fusion surgery.
“I’ve found that if you don’t love the city, the city won’t love you,” Gilbert wrote in a piece for The New York Times in March 1977.