Born in Peterborough on December 13, 1953 Bob Gainey comes from a family of seven - two brothers and four sisters. At age five, he received his first pair of skates from his father and learned to skate on the Trent Canal and at the outside rink in his neighborhood. The following year he was playing defense with the Immaculate Conception team in the local church league. At age 15, while playing at the midget level, his coach Red Wasson moved him up front where he would blossom as a strong checker. In 1969, he was called up by the local juvenile team to cover opposing star players such as a Rick Middleton, Eric Vail and Don Lever. He never looked back.

Fitting perfectly in Peterborough’s style of play, Gainey was named the team’s most valuable player in his first full season and already was recognized as one of the league’s best two-way players. Despite his role as a defensive forward, Gainey managed to rack up 43 points, including 22 goals, in 1972-73. His intensity and strong two-way play did not go unnoticed by Sam Pollock, who used the Canadiens' first selection, eighth overall, to claim Bob at the 1973 NHL Entry Draft.

Gainey was only 19 when he attended his first Canadiens training camp in 1973 and made the team after a brief six-game stint with the Voyageurs in Halifax. He played his first NHL game in Minnesota on October 10, 1973 and two weeks later, facing the same North Stars at the Forum, recorded the first of his 269 NHL goals. In 1974-75, in just his second season, his great skating skills and infectious work ethic earned him a spot on the second line with Jacques Lemaire and Yvan Cournoyer. Gainey would end up the campaign with 37 points and a plus/minus differential of plus-23, a trend that would translate into a career plus-196.

The speed, tenacity and strength that Gainey brought to the ice made him one of the toughest competitors and earned him a spot on Team Canada for the inaugural Canada Cup in 1976. His skills were noted beyond the ice rinks of North America and one observation propelled him into superstar status. Soviet national coach Viktor Tikhonov described Gainey as the most technically perfect player in the world. At only 23, he was among the world’s best.

Following his debut on the international stage, Gainey played a key role in taking the Canadiens to new heights with a record 132-point season in 1976-77 and an impressive streak of four straight Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979. In recognition of the importance of forwards with outstanding defensive skills like Gainey displayed, the NHL created the Frank Selke Trophy in 1978. Fittingly, Gainey won the honor in each of its first four years of existence, from 1978 to 1981.

During the 1979 playoffs, Gainey added some scoring touch to his usual defensive poise and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after recording 16 points in as many games. Gainey wrote a few pages of Canadiens history when on November 5, 1988 he scored the fastest goal in team history nine seconds into the game. Gainey had also recorded the Canadiens' fastest goal from the start of the game in the playoffs with a tally seven seconds into the game on May 5, 1977. In 198,1 Gainey succeeds Serge Savard as team captain, a role he would assume for 569 games, making him the second-longest standing captain after Jean Béliveau (679 games).

In his 16 seasons with the Canadiens, Gainey played 1,160 games (third on the all-time list), recorded 239 goals and assisted on 262 others, and won five Stanley Cups. With 182 playoff games under his belt, Gainey is second in Canadiens' history behind Larry Robinson. A model throughout his career, Gainey was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.