Don’t miss out on Gallinger

Given gambling’s ascent as a sports business that has gone from boxing, horses and jai alai into the big four, Fred Addis’ book on former Bruin Don Gallinger is a piece of NHL history with particular relevance. The following is a Facebook post by my friend, hockey historian and author Fred Addis:

Who is this man and why is he going to Boston?

Seventy-five years after his father took off his Bruins hockey sweater for the last time and left town in disgrace, his son will stand in front of Boston’s TD Garden and pass out hockey cards that say, “Thank You Boston!”

Don Gallinger Jr., now in his 70s, wants to express his thanks to Bruins fans for supporting his dad during the good times.

“My father’s career ended abruptly when he was suspended from the NHL in 1948 for gambling. He never got over it. It ruined his life and tainted everything he attempted to do thereafter. All appeals to have the suspension lifted fell on deaf ears,” said Gallinger Jr. from his home in the Town of Blue Mountains north of Toronto.

Gallinger Jr. now retired from a successful career in real estate, is not out for revenge or even to set the record straight. “I’m going to Boston with my wife and my daughter and we hope to meet a few Bruins fans before the game on November 2 and give out a few cards and then watch a hockey game.”

Still physically active himself, Gallinger Jr. enjoys waterskiing and plays hockey with some oldtimer friends, wearing his signature Boston Bruins sweater with his dad’s number 11. “Now that the word is getting out about the old man’s career, my friends will be teasing me. I seem to have missed my dad’s hockey genes altogether.” he laughed.

Don Gallinger joined the Bruins right of Jr. B hockey as a 17 year old in 1942. He scored two overtime goals in Stanley Cup competition and led the Bruins in scoring in 1945/46. But it all fell apart when as a 22 year old, a teammate introduced him to a Detroit gambling kingpin and Gallinger lost everything.

When asked about the most recent NHL suspension for gambling activity handed down to Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators, Gallinger Jr. could only shake his head.

“My old man got 22 years,” pausing before he added, “and 5 months and 22 days, if anyone’s counting. It was another time of course, but it certainly begs the question, did his punishment fit his misdeeds.”

Gallinger Jr’s visit to Boston coincides with the release of a new biography “Gallinger: A Life Suspended” written by a friend, Canadian hockey historian Fred Addis.