Don Gallinger
Born in Port Colborne, Gallinger was one of the league's youngest players when he broke into the NHL, playing on the "Sprout Line" of Boston with Bill Shill and Bep Guidolin.
Before the suspension, Gallinger had established himself as an effective offensive NHL player and, as an excellent multi-sport athlete, had even been sought after to play professional baseball.
The Bruins had lost their high-scoring line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart to the Royal Canadian Air Force and NHL teams were willing to accept younger players.
[4][5] The Bruins finished in second place in the regular season and went to the Stanley Cup finals losing to the Detroit Red Wings in four straight games.
Before leaving for the military, on January 8, 1944, in a game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Boston Bruins, the mayor of Port Colborne honoured Kennedy and Gallinger, both hometown heroes, with gold watches on behalf of his town's citizens.
[10] Gallinger had been offered contracts to play baseball by both the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies while he was with the Bruins.
"[12] A sportswriter suggested to Gallinger it might be better for him to try for an outfield position since the Red Sox's current shortstop Johnny Pesky was considered the league's best.
[11] Gallinger finished the 1946–47 season with 10 points less than his previous year as the NHL strengthened with the return of players who had been serving in the war.
When the betting problem still continued into the next season, the NHL made it clear that any more infractions would receive more severe punishment.
[15] Gallinger had gambled on the Bruins from the time of his rookie year, although he later insisted he never bet on Boston to lose until he met Billy Taylor.
[16] Taylor, a 28-year-old center, had arrived to the Bruins in a trade to start the 1947–48 season and was living in the same boarding house as Gallinger.
[16] The two became involved with James Tamer, a Detroit gambler and career criminal,[16] and began receiving instructions to bet on games based on their inside knowledge of the team's attitude and injuries.
Although the Bruins won the game against Chicago, Detroit police informed NHL President Clarence Campbell of the wiretaps.
In late February, Gallinger was visiting his family in Port Colborne when he received a call to come to Toronto to be questioned concerning the Detroit gambler.
Art Ross then personally approached Gallinger's father and proposed the idea of his son seeing a psychiatrist in Toronto.
[18] Early in March 1948, word of a gambling scandal involving some Boston Bruin players made its way into the press.
On March 3, The Bruins were playing the Chicago Blackhawks at the Boston Garden in their first game since news of the scandal became public.
In the second period, Gallinger intercepted a Gus Mortson clearing pass and let go with a low 30-foot shot past goaltender Turk Broda.
[21] On March 9, 1948, Gallinger was suspended indefinitely, pending an investigation, by the NHL for gambling on hockey including games involving the Bruins.
NHL President Clarence Campbell said Gallinger and teammate Billy Taylor, who had already been expelled for life, were guilty of "conduct detrimental to hockey and for associating with a known gambler.
[9][17] In 1966, Babe Pratt, found guilty of gambling the season before Gallinger and Taylor, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The couple had three boys and another child, Randy Kathleen, who died at age 11 at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.
In 1998, the boy, now Bruce Black, a successful San Jose businessman, decided to finally contact his birth father.
Black did not know Gallinger's whereabouts but had met San Jose Sharks radio broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky whose hobby was genealogy research.
[29] Don Gallinger died of a heart attack February 3, 2000 at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ontario.
