Gordon (Gordie) Arthur Drillon
Born: Moncton, New Brunswick, October 23, 1914.
Died: Saint John, New Brunswick, September 22, 1986.
Inducted in 1975.
Gord Drillon drove Conn Smythe nuts during his six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the 1930's, Gentleman Joe Primeau had centered to highly talented players - in Smythe's opinion -
in the persons of Charlie Conacher and Busher Jackson. Both were big, strong, fast wingers with
tremendous shots and they terrorized the league for more than five seasons on Primeau's flanks.
Only Primeau, it seemed, could work with the two wingers who played as hard off the ice as on, and
that drove Smythe to distraction.
So along came Syl Apps to replace Primeau, and who played best with him? Moncton, New
Brunswick's favorite son Gordie Drillon, a big, strong, fast winger who thought road trips to New
York were invented so he could do Manhattan with aspiring Broadway actresses.
"What a heck of a thing it was, a kid from Moncton playing in New York," Drillon recalled after
retiring. "It was something to meet Jack Dempsey, the old champ."
Smythe's regularly scheduled reprimands and inspirational talks with his goal-scoring Black Sheep
were part of the Maple Leafs culture in those days.
Drillon played only seven seasons in the NHL, six with Toronto and one with the Montreal Canadiens,
but he still managed to score 155 goals for an annual average of 22.2. At 6'2" and 180 pounds, he
patrolled the right wing with impunity, although he never totaled more than 15 minutes in penalties
in a season. His forte was finding the opening, taking Apps' pass and converting it into a goal.
The New Brunswicker earned First All-Star Team status at right wing in 1938 and 1939, and made
Second Team in 1942. He also received the Lady Byng Trophy in 1938, a year in which he was the
league's top goal scorer and points leader with 26 goals and 26 assists, finishing two points ahead of
his center.
The line of Drillon, Apps and Bob Davidson powered the Leafs to first place in the Canadian Division
that season, but they fell to the Cinderella Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final. Drillon won his first,
and only Stanley Cup, in the 1942 Miracle at Maple Leaf gardens when Toronto spotted Detroit an
0-3 lead in the series, and stormed back to win the last four games and the Cup, the only time that
has happened in NHL history. it was a bittersweet victory, as Drillon and defenseman Bucko
McDonald were very publicly benched for the last four games to shake the team up.
He was sold to Montreal in the off-season, and played for the Canadiens on a line with Buddy
O'Connor and Ray Getliffe, finishing fifth in team scoring behind Toe Blake, Elmer Lach, O'Connor,
and Joe Benoit. When informed that he would be traded before the next season began because the
Canadiens wanted to make room at right wing for someone named Maurice Richard, Drillon chose to
retire. He returned to New Brunswick and a job in the provincial civil service.
