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Uploaded By: PRESIDENT on December 6th, 2015

Joseph Jean Gilles Tremblay - Born December 17, 1938 in Montmorency, Quebec – Died November 26, 2014 in Montreal, Quebec was a Canadian ice Hockey left winger.

- Memorial Cup Champion 1958 with Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.
Memorial Cup finalist 1957.

- George Richardson Memorial Trophy Champion 1957, 1958 with Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.

- Eastern Professional Hockey League / EPHL Champion 1960 with Hull-Ottawa Canadiens Sr.

- Prince of Wales Trophy Champion 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968 with Montreal Canadiens.

- Stanley Cup Champion 1966, 1968, 1969* with Montreal Canadiens.

- Foster Hewitt Award 2002

A fast and skilled left winger who played a strong two-way game and excelled at every level, Gilles Tremblay spent nine years in Montreal colors, but his time in a Canadiens uniform began some years before his 1960-61 NHL debut. Playing up for the Hull-Ottawa Junior Canadiens from 1956 to 1960, he was part of a team that Sam Pollock and Scotty Bowman built, winning back to back Eastern Canada championships, which got them to the Memorial Cup Championships, losing in 1957 in 7 games, and then winning the 1958 Memorial Cup in 6 games.

Tremblay had also been playing since 1957 for the senior Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in OHA Sr B level, gaining much needed experience.

The Rochester Americans of the AHL also called him up, and he played 3 games in the American Hockey League, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist.

The senior Hull-Ottawa Canadiens joined the Eastern Professional Hockey League / EPHL for the 1959-60 season, winning the 1960 EPHL championship, with Tremblay scoring 4 goals, 3 assists in 7 playoff games.

Tremblay started the next season with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, scoring 9 goals (20 points) in 14 games, which got the Montreal Canadiens to call him up, making his NHL debut on November 12, 1960 vs Detroit Red Wings at Montreal Forum in a 4-2 Canadiens win.

Tremblay scored his 1st NHL goal the next night on November 13, 1960 vs Gump Worsley of New York Rangers at 15:26 of 1st period at Madison Square Garden in a 2-1 Canadiens win

Montreal liked what they saw in Tremblay's game of speed and the ability to adapt to any situation, and he became a full time Canadien. Tremblay scored 7 goals (18 points) in 45 games in his rookie season and had 1 goal (4 points) in 6 playoff games.

Tremblay had a great sophomore year, scoring a career high 32 goals (54 points) while playing in every one of the 70 NHL games.

Tremblay would hit the 20-goal benchmark 4 more times despite spending an increasing amount of time shadowing the top right-wingers in the league. Able to skate and turn with them in close quarters, Tremblay shut down the big guns with brains rather than brawn.

The Canadiens ended a 5 year playoff drought in 1965, winning the Stanley Cup, but Tremblay missed out, recovering from a leg injury he suffered less than halfway through the 1964-65 season.

Tremblay came back and had strong season in 1965-66, scoring 27 goals in regular season, and then in the playoffs scored 4 goals, 5 assists, including the finals game 3 winner, with Detroit leading the series 2-0 . Montreal won 4 games in a row, with Tremblay assisting on goals in the 5th and 6th games, as the Canadiens won the 1966 Stanley Cup championship, giving Tremblay his first sip from the Stanley Cup.

Tremblay and the Canadiens repeated in 1968 and his name was engraved a third time following the 1969* Stanley Cup championship, but Tremblay's career had come to a sudden end at the age of 33, when respiratory problems forced him to hang up his skates 44 games into the 1968-69 season.

Tremblay played in 509 regular season NHL games, scoring 168 goals (14 GWG), 162 assists with 164 penalty minutes and 48 NHL playoff games, scoring 9 goals (3 GWG), 14 assists with 4 penalty minutes.

Tremblay played in NHL All-Star Games 1965, 1966, 1967.

Forced off the ice as a result of a severe asthmatic condition, Tremblay still remained in the game. Joining the media ranks at the outset of the 1970s, Tremblay became one of the first ex-players to get into the broadcasting field. Teamed with the legendary René Lecavalier, Tremblay learned from the best in the business and spent the next 27 years as part of the Saturday night broadcast team for “La Soirée du Hockey”.

In 2002, the broadcasting fraternity and the Hockey Hall of Fame took note of Tremblay’s long career behind the microphone and rewarded him with the Foster Hewitt Award.

Sourced from http://collectionscanada.gc.ca. Credited to Louis Jaques.

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