James Wilfred Roberts (born
April 9, 1940 in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
) is a
retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman and forward. He
went by both nick names of Jimmy and Jim.
After playing for future
Montreal
Canadiens coach
Scotty Bowman with
the OHA junior
Peterborough
Petes, Roberts was signed by the Canadiens and turned pro with
the
Montreal Royals minor league
team in 1959. In the
1964
season, he saw his first NHL action with Montreal and remained
the next several seasons, winning two
Stanley Cups before becoming the first selection
of the
St. Louis Blues in
1967 NHL Expansion Draft.
He played solidly for the Blues for five seasons, being named the
team captain in
1971
before his trade back to Montreal, where he played for three more
Cup winners. Roberts rejoined the Blues for one final season in
1978 before his
retirement. He was renowned for his defensive skills and often used
as a "shadow" against high scoring enemy forwards.
After his retirement as a player, Roberts was an interim coach of
the
Buffalo Sabres under his old
mentor Bowman before coaching the
Springfield Indians of the
American Hockey League to
back-to-back
Calder Cup championships in
1990 and 1991, after which he was named the head coach of the
Hartford Whalers. He went on to be
the coach and general manager of the
Worcester IceCats of the AHL for two
seasons before moving on to be an assistant coach with the St.
Louis parent club between 1996–2000, including a short stint as the
interim head coach in 1997.
Roberts played in 1006 NHL games, scoring 126 goals and 194 assists
for 320 points, and playing in three All-Star Games in 1965, 1969
and 1970. Jimmy Roberts name was engraved on the Stanley Cup in
1965, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1977 (all with Montreal).
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