From his days as a junior with the Peterborough Petes until well into his coaching career, Jim Roberts was often playing in front of or standing beside the great Scotty Bowman. Roberts played for Bowman in the OHA, EPHL, CPHL and NHL. He coached with Scotty with the Buffalo Sabres before the two parted their ways after the 1983-84 season. Both found success in varying degrees.
Jim Roberts – Junior and Minor Pro
Roberts played for the Peterborough Petes (T.P.T.’s at the time) for the 1958-59 and 1959-60 OHA Junior A seasons. In both those years, Bowman was the team’s head coach. In 1958-59, Peterborough finished second in the seven team league and won the OHA championship over Toronto St. Michael’s.
The Petes then moved on to beat the Ottawa-Hull Canadiens for the George Richardson Trophy championship which allowed them entry into the Memorial Cup finals. The Winnipeg Braves eliminated the Petes in the finals, four games to one.
In his second season, Peterborough lost in the OHA semi-finals to the St. Catherine’s TeePees.
Jim Roberts Collection
Before breaking into the National Hockey League fulltime, Jim played in the EPHL, AHL and CPHL. In 1961-62 with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the EPHL, Roberts put up great numbers from the blue line with 39 points in 67 games. The Canadiens finished first overall in the six team EPHL and were playoff champions, beating the Kingston Frontenacs in six games in the finals.
The following year, Roberts and Bowman were reunited with Hull-Ottawa. In 1963-64, the two moved to the Omaha Knights in the CPHL but Bowman left the club after eight games. Jim also left the club later in the season to join the NHL Canadiens. The Knights won the CPHL championships but Roberts was playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Montreal. During that 1963-64 season, Jim also played for the Cleveland Barons and Quebec Aces in the American Hockey League.
Jim Roberts – NHL
Between 1963-64 and 1977-78, Roberts appeared in 1,006 regular season games in the National Hockey League with the Canadiens and Blues. Over that time, he scored 126 and assisted on 194 for 320 points.
With Montreal, Jim played on five Stanley Cup winning teams. With the Blues, he played in the finals in three consecutive seasons. In all, Roberts played 153 games in the playoffs, adding 36 points.
In an odd career, Jim started with Montreal and went to the Blues when he was drafted in the third round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 15th overall. He was then traded back to the Canadiens on December 13, 1971 with Phil Roberto going the other way. In August, 1977, Jim was then sent back to St. Louis in exchange for a draft pick. He spent one final season with St. Louis before retiring.
The Bowman connection continued when both found themselves with the Blues for the franchise’s inaugural season in the National Hockey League. For the entire duration of Jim’s second stint in Montreal, Bowman was his head coach.
Jim Roberts – Coaching
After a year away from the game, Roberts jumped into the assistant coaching role with the Buffalo Sabres for the 1979-80 season. He spent five years with the team and even had a 45 game stint as head coach during the 1981-82 season in Bowman’s absence.
His greatest success came during a three year stint as head coach of the AHL’s Springfield Indians from 1988-89 to 1990-91. In his first year, the Indians did not qualify for the post season. In 1989-90, the regular season wasn’t that impressive. Springfield finished at exactly .500.
However, the Indians reached the Calder Cup finals and came out victorious in six games over the favoured Rochester Americans. Roberts was honoured with the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s coach of the year.
In 1990-91, Springfield was much more dominant, finishing first in the seven team Northern Division and second overall behind just the Amerks. The two teams again met in the Calder Cup finals and again it was the Indians coming out on top in six games over the Don Lever coached Americans.
His success in the American Hockey League earned Roberts a head coaching job in the NHL. For the 1991-92 season, he coached the Hartford Whalers. The team qualified for the post season despite just 65 points over the 80 game schedule. However, the Whalers did take the Canadiens to the limit in the opening round before falling in seven.
Jim returned to the NHL and to St. Louis in 1996-97 as an assistant coach. He remained with the club until the end of 2001-02.
Jim Roberts – Rookie Card
The Jim Roberts rookie card appears as number 74 in the 1965-66 Topps and the card shows him as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. The card is valued as a common card. His final card appears in the 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee set and shows him wearing a Habs jersey but as a member of the Blues.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1958-59 | Peterboro T.P.T’s | OHA | 54 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 34 |
| 1959-60 | Peterboro T.P.T’s | OHA | 48 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 55 |
| 1959-60 | Montreal Royals | EPHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960-61 | Montreal Royals | EPHL | 51 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 55 |
| 1961-62 | Hull-Ottawa Canadiens | EPHL | 67 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 42 |
| 1962-63 | Hull-Ottawa Canadiens | EPHL | 72 | 2 | 27 | 29 | 78 |
| 1962-63 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1963-64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1963-64 | Omaha Knights | CPHL | 46 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 47 |
| 1963-64 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 1963-64 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1964-65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 40 |
| 1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| 1966-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 63 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 1967-68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 74 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 66 |
| 1968-69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 72 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 81 |
| 1969-70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 76 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 51 |
| 1970-71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 72 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 77 |
| 1971-72 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 26 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| 1971-72 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 51 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 49 |
| 1972-73 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 77 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 28 |
| 1973-74 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 39 |
| 1974-75 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 79 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 52 |
| 1975-76 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 74 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 35 |
| 1976-77 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 45 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 18 |
| 1977-78 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 39 |
| NHL Totals | 1006 | 126 | 194 | 320 | 621 |