Don Gallinger
| Don Gallinger | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
April 16, 1925 Port Colborne, ON, CAN |
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| Died | February 3, 2000 (aged 74) Burlington, ON, CAN |
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| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Boston Bruins | ||
| Playing career | 1942–1948 | ||
Donald Calvin "Gabby" Gallinger (April 16, 1925 – February 3, 2000) was a professional ice hockey player who played 222 games in the National Hockey League. Born in Port Colborne, Ontario, he played for the Boston Bruins. Gallinger was one of the league's youngest players when he broke into the NHL, playing on the "Sprout Line" of Boston with Bill Shill and Bep Guidolin. Gallinger's career was cut short, when in 1948 Gallinger and former team-mate Billy Taylor were discovered gambling on their own teams and banned for life by the NHL. They were reinstated in 1970 and these are the longest suspensions in NHL history. Prior to the suspension, Gallinger had established himself an effective offensive NHL player and, as an excellent multi-sport athlete, had even been sought after to play professional baseball.
Don Gallinger came from a hockey family. Gallinger's father, Frank, was a lacrosse player, but also played hockey in the Northern Hockey League. Don Gallinger had two uncles, "Red" and "Shorty" Green, who were considered talented players during the era when players played the full 60 minutes. Don's eldest brother, Frank, played senior hockey in Port Colborne. Brother Keith played intermediate hockey.
In junior hockey, Gallinger was team-mates and friends with NHL Hall of Famer Teeder Kennedy. The two were successful in both hockey and football.
He was the second-youngest player in NHL history when he broke into the NHL with Boston at age 17, playing on the "Sprout Line" of with Bill Shill and Bep Guidolin. The Bruins had lost their high-scoring line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart to the Canadian Air Force and NHL teams were willing to accept younger players. Gallinger showed natural ability as a goal-scorer and was third in voting for the Calder rookie of the year award. The Bruins finished in second place in the regular season and went to the Stanley Cup finals losing to the Detroit Red Wings in four straight games.
Gallinger missed a large part of the 1943–44 and all of the 1944–45 season serving with the Canadian military. Before leaving for the military, on January 8, 1944, in a game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Boston Bruins, the mayor of Port Colborne honoured Teeder Kennedy and Don Gallinger, both hometown heroes, with gold watches on behalf of his town's citizens. Beginning in February 1944, Gallinger played hockey for the R.C.A.F. Bombers. At the time of his entering the military, Gallinger had scored 13 goals in 23 games with Boston. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, graduating at the top of his air gunners' class. He was discharged in September 1945 as a flying officer.
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