How much further would have his NHL career gone? How would it have changed the career of Don Edwards? Questions for the ‘what-if’ machine. What if Gerry Desjardins had not experienced a career ending eye injury just three games into the 1977-78 National Hockey League season?
The injury was the final straw in ushering out the fiberglass, face-hugging goalie masks and making way for the cage style that were used through the 1980’s. Interestingly, it was Dave Dryden, a player we recently featured, that pioneered those cage style buckets.
At the time, Desjardins was the number one goalie with the Buffalo Sabres and Don Edwards was his backup. After the injury at the start of 1977-78, Edwards was thrust into the spotlight, appearing in 72 of Buffalo’s games that year. He would win the Vezina Trophy just two years later.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL and WHA Career
Hockey Card Collection
Coaching
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Gerry Desjardins – Junior and Minor Pro
Gerry Desjardins played major junior hockey for the Toronto Marlboros in 1962-63 and 1964-65 with a drop down to Junior B in 1963-64. In his final season, Desjardins appeared in 53 games and posted 3.81 goals against average. The Marlies finished second in the eight team league over the 56 game schedule. Toronto reached the finals before losing to the first place Niagara Falls Flyers in five games.
His first two years of pro hockey were spent with the Houston Apollos of the CPHL. In 1965-66, the team was led offensively by Andre Boudrias and finished fifth in the six team league, out of playoff contention.
In 1966-67, the Apollos were loaded up with Montreal Canadiens prospects, including Boudrias, Danny Grant, Jacques Lemaire, Serge Savard and Rogatien Vachon. Desjardins played in 36 games while Vachon appeared in 34. The team finished third and were bounced in the first round by the Oklahoma City Blazers.
1967-68 saw a move up to the American Hockey League and it was a season that certainly got him noticed. Gerry played in 66 games for the Cleveland Barons, posting a 3.45 GAA and recording three shutouts. Desjardins was honoured with the Dudley Red Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL rookie of the year. He was also named a First Team All-Star.
Gerry Desjardins – NHL and WHA
Gerry Desjardins appeared in 331 regular season National Hockey League games between 1968-69 and 1977-78 with the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres. Over that time, he maintained a 3.29 GAA and recorded 12 shutouts.
Gerry Desjardins Collection
The Montreal Canadiens traded Gerry to the Kings on June 11, 1968 for two draft picks, before he could even play a game for the Habs. In his first season in the NHL, 1968-69, the rookie took over the number 1 goaltending duties with the Los Angeles Kings. He played in 60 games and put up a 3.26 GAA with four shutouts.
He was number one again for the Kings in 1969-70 before a February 20, 1970 trade sent him to the Blackhawks. Bryan Campbell and Bill White went with him for Denis Dejordy, Gilles Marotte and Jim Stanfield.
His time in Chicago as the backup for Tony Esposito did not last long. On September 9, 1971, he was traded with Kerry Bond and Gerry Pinder to the California Golden Seals for Gary Smith. However, he never played for the Seals. California sent him back to Chicago on October 18 of the same year for Gilles Meloche and Paul Shmyr. Interestingly, his 1972-73 Topps card shows him wearing a Golden Seals jersey.
Once again, time in Chicago was short. At the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, Desjardins was picked up second overall by the New York Islanders. The first pick in the draft was Phil Myre who went to the Atlanta Flames. Gerry spent 1972-73 as the number one goalie on Long Island.
It was with the Sabres where his career started to take off. He played with the club in 1973-74. Gerry took a detour in 1974-75, spending time with the Michigan Stags and Baltimore Blades in the World Hockey Association. His WHA stats stand at a 4.26 goals against average over 41 games.
Desjardins returned to Buffalo for 1975-76 and was the team’s number one goalie in 1975-76 and 1976-77. While he was on hiatus in the WHA, Gary Bromley and Roger Crozier took over goaltending duties with the Sabres. In 1975-76, it was Gerry playing 55 games with Crozier and Al Smith backing him up. Bromley played a single game and allowed seven goals.
By 1976-77, it was the duo of Desjardins and Don Edwards. Gerry appeared in 49 games while Edwards played in 25. Things were looking good but then the injury came in just the third game of 1977-78. His career ended after taking a shot to the eye.
Gerry Desjardins – Coaching
After his NHL career came to crashing halt, Gerry Desjardins tried his hand at coaching. For the 1988-89 and 1989-90 Ontario Hockey League seasons, Desjardins was assistant coach under Wayne Maxner with the London Knights. Both teams had potential but ran into a wall called the Niagara Falls Thunder (now Erie Otters) in each playoff campaign.
In 1988-89, the Knights were led offensively by Tim Taylor and it was Louis DeBrusk’s rookie year. London reached the semi-finals before being taken down by the Thunder in seven games.
The following year, it was Tim’s brother Chris Taylor leading the team. The Knights tied for first overall in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals. However, they were upset in the opening round by Niagara Falls, a team that finished 38 points behind them in the regular season standings.
Gerry Desjardins – Rookie Card
The Gerry Desjardins rookie card appears as number 99 in the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set. It states on the back of the card that he had been property of the Maple Leafs and Canadiens before his National Hockey League debut with the Los Angeles Kings.
Although he had a card in the 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee set, Desjardins was not included in the 1970-71 Dad’s Cookies collection. He was also not included in the 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set. Of course, with his move to the WHA for 1974-75, he was left out of the hockey card world for that season, as well.
His 1972-73 Topps card is unique. He is shown as a member of the expansion New York Islanders, just as his O-Pee-Chee card. However, he is wearing a California Golden Seals jersey in the picture. Desjardins belonged to the Golden Seals from September 9 to October 18 in 1971 and never played a game for the team.
On the back of his cards, Gerry’s hometown drifts back and forth from Sudbury, Ontario to Noelville, Ontario. Noelville is a small community in the French River region, south of Sudbury. His final card came in the fateful 1977-78 season as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
Gerry Desjardins Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1962-63 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.27 |
| 1964-65 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.81 |
| 1965-66 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.78 |
| 1966-67 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 36 | 2 | 27 | 1 | 3.61 |
| 1967-68 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 66 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3.45 |
| 1968-69 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 60 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3.26 |
| 1969-70 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 43 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 3.89 |
| 1969-70 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| 1970-71 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2.42 |
| 1971-72 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.50 |
| 1972-73 | New York Islanders | NHL | 44 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4.68 |
| 1973-74 | New York Islanders | NHL | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.12 |
| 1974-75 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.78 |
| 1974-75 | Michigan Stags | WHA | 41 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 4.26 |
| 1975-76 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 55 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2.95 |
| 1976-77 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 49 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2.63 |
| 1977-78 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.78 |
| NHL Totals | 331 | 3 | 39 | 12 | 3.29 | ||
| WHA Totals | 41 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 4.26 |