Gordon Douglas Roberts (born October 2, 1957) is an American 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 ...

defenseman who played 1,097

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 ...

regular season games from 1979 to 1994. He is a member of the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

. His brother Doug Roberts is also a former NHL player.

Amateur career

Roberts was named after

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

star

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

, who was eventually Roberts' teammate in Hartford, and grew up playing junior hockey in the

Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League (SOJHL) is a former Canadian Junior ice hockey league sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association based out of Southwestern Ontario. Prior to the 2012-13 season, the SOJHL was promoted to the Junior C l ...

for the Detroit Jr. Red Wings.

Professional career

Roberts was drafted in the third round, 54th overall by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

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 New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. 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 The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

for

Mike Fidler Michael Edward Fidler (born August 19, 1956) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 271 games in the National Hockey League between 1976 and 1982. He played for the Cleveland Barons, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whale ...

. He remained a North Star for eight seasons before moving to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

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 The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

tournaments. Roberts won two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

s with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and became the first American player to appear in 1,000 NHL games, in 1992. He played for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

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 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 The Detroit Vipers were an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their mascot was a polar bear named Vipe-bear. History Beginning The Vipers were originally formed as the Sal ...

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 The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

as well as the assistant coach of the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In recent years, he has worked as a pro scout for the

, 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 Maple Grove Senior High School (MGSH) is a public grade 912 high school located in Maple Grove, Minnesota, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Osseo School District (279). Its feeder schools are Maple Grove Middle School and Oss ...

Crimson boys hockey team.

Awards and achievements

*Inducted into the

in 1999. *Played in 1977 and 1978 WHA All-Star Game *2- Time

champion (1991, 1992)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

*
HockeyDraftCentral profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Gordie 1957 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Arizona Coyotes coaches Arizona Coyotes executives Boston Bruins players Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Hartford Whalers players Ice hockey players from Detroit Minnesota Moose players Minnesota North Stars players Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens scouts New England Whalers players Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Philadelphia Flyers players Pittsburgh Penguins players St. Louis Blues players Sportspeople from Detroit Stanley Cup champions United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Victoria Cougars (WHL) players Ice hockey coaches from Michigan Ice hockey people from Michigan