Gilles Gratton (born July 28, 1952 in
LaSalle,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
) is a Canadian former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
.
Playing career
As a youth, Gratton played in the 1965
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament
The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...
with a
minor ice hockey
Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...
team from
LaSalle, Quebec
LaSalle () is the most southerly borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the south-west portion of the Island of Montreal, along the Saint Lawrence River. Prior to 2002, it was a separate municipalit ...
.
Gratton began his junior hockey career in 1969 with the
Oshawa Generals
The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...
of the
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...
; after three years in Oshawa, Gratton was drafted in the fifth round of the
1972 NHL Amateur Draft
The 1972 NHL Amateur Draft was the 10th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.
The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Richard Brodeur, who played his last NHL game in the 1987–88 s ...
by the
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
. Instead of signing with Buffalo (where his brother,
Norm Gratton
Normand Lionel Gratton (December 22, 1950 – December 10, 2010) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger. He played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers, Atlanta Flames, Buffalo Sabres and Minneso ...
, would soon be playing after his acquisition from the
Atlanta Flames
The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...
), Gilles jumped to the new
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
, inking a deal with the
Ottawa Nationals
The Ottawa Nationals were a professional men's ice hockey team out of Ottawa that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) during the 1972–73 WHA season.
The WHA had originally granted a franchise to Doug Michel for "Ontario." Original p ...
; in 1973, Gratton would move with the team to Toronto, as the franchise became the
Toronto Toros
The Toronto Toros were an ice hockey team based in Toronto that played in the World Hockey Association from 1973 to 1976.
History
The franchise was awarded to Doug Michel in 1971 for $25,000 to play in the WHA's inaugural 1972–73 season. Haro ...
. At the
1974 Summit Series
The 1974 Summit Series was the second of two competitions between Soviet and Canadian professional ice hockey players, following the same format as the 1972 Summit Series, with four games across Canada and four in Moscow. The Soviet team won the ...
, Gratton was selected as Team Canada's number three goaltender, seeing action in warm-up games against
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, and very briefly in Game Three of the series against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
In 1975, Gratton jumped to the
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...
of
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
, but after just six games decided he wanted to go back to Toronto and walked out on the team. However, the Blues refused to grant him his release, so he sat out the rest of the season. They relented during the summer and Gratton wound up with the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
, splitting time in goal with
John Davidson. Finally, Gratton played one game with the minor-league
New Haven Nighthawks
The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...
in the
1977–78 AHL season
The 1977–78 AHL season was the 42nd season of the American Hockey League. The season was in jeopardy when the last of the original eight franchises of the "International-American Hockey League", the Rhode Island Reds (previously Providence Red ...
before retiring.
Gratton is perhaps best known for his
goalie mask
A goaltender mask, commonly referred to as a goalie mask, is a mask worn by goaltenders in a variety of sports to protect the head and face from injury from the ball or puck, as they constantly face incoming shots on goal. Some sports requiring th ...
, which was an adaptation of his
astrological sign
In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. ...
,
Leo. However, Gratton states that he got the idea from a picture in a ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' magazine that he was reading on a plane flight, stating, "It's not a lion mask at all. It's a tiger." Allegedly, Gratton would live up to his "feline" image by growling at opposing players on the ice, and even hissing like a cat during a fight.
"Gratoony the Loony"
Throughout his career, Gratton, nicknamed "Gratoony the Loony", was known for his eccentric personality and outspoken character, often drawing attention away from his talent. While playing in the WHA, he once hurled insults against the opposing team's fans in San Diego ahead of a playoff game. Legend has it that Gratton once told his teammates he was reincarnated and had once been a soldier in the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
.
Gratton also allegedly believed that, in a previous existence, he was an executioner who had stoned people to death, and thus was "fated" to be a goalie as punishment. While with the Toros, he refused to play because the moon was in the wrong part of the sky, thereby not lined up with Jupiter. He later stated he did so to protest against the firing of coach
Billy Harris.
[
On THN.com, he was voted to have the sixth-scariest goalie mask.]
Today
In October 2015, ECW Press announced that it would be publishing Gratton's autobiography, ''Grattoony the Loony'', written with author Greg Oliver
Greg Oliver (born February 2, 1971 in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Canadian sports writer. He currently resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Early life and education
He earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts in journalism, newspaper major, in 1993 from ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
Gratton's goalie mask
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gratton, Gilles
1952 births
Living people
Buffalo Sabres draft picks
Canadian ice hockey goaltenders
French Quebecers
Ice hockey people from Montreal
New Haven Nighthawks players
New York Rangers players
Oshawa Generals players
Ottawa Nationals players
People from LaSalle, Quebec
St. Louis Blues players
Toronto Toros players