The National Hockey League has released a statement expressing its deepest condolences as it mourns the loss of Jim Gregory. According to the league, the Hockey Hall of Famer, former Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager and League Executive passed away Wednesday at the age of 83.
“It is impossible to express the extent to which the National Hockey League family adored Jim Gregory and the loss we feel as a result of his passing,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Jim Gregory wasn't just a great ‘hockey man,' though he certainly was that. He was a great man – a devoted husband to Rosalie, his wife of 60 years; father to Andrea, Valerie, Maureen and David; grandfather of 13; and mentor and friend to too many to number."
Gregory was GM of the Leafs for 10 years, leading the team to eight playoff appearances between 1968 and 1979. According to the NHL, he was among the NHL's first general managers to sign and import players from Europe – most notably, the legendary Hall of Fame defenseman Borje Salming. Gregory was also responsible for introducing a scouting system within the organization, hiring five full-time scouts. After being fired in 1979 when the team failed to make the playoffs, he moved to the NHL head offices, becoming the Director of Central Scouting, and later took a directorship position in the Hockey Operations department, which he held until his death.
Prior to his career in NHL management, Gregory grew up in Dunnville, Ontario and moved to Toronto to attend St. Michael's College School in 1953. He won the Memorial Cup as general manager of St. Michael's Majors in 1961 and as coach of the Toronto Marlboros in 1964, then assumed a managerial role with the Marlboros and guided them to the Memorial Cup again in 1967. The Maple Leafs hired Gregory to coach Vancouver, their minor league affiliate, in 1967-68. He joined them as a scout in 1968 and a year later, at age 33, was promoted to general manager.
Gregory also served as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame's selection committee from 1998-2014, with the exception of a health-related absence in 2007, when the remaining members of the selection committee voted him into the Hall as a builder.
Source: NHL.com
