| Gilles Villemure | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Villemure in 1976 | |||
| Born | (1940-05-30)May 30, 1940 (age 85) Trois-Rivières,Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Right | ||
| Played for | New York Rangers Chicago Black Hawks | ||
| Playing career | 1963–1977 | ||
Joseph Hector Gilles Villemure (born May 30, 1940) is a Canadian former professionalice hockey goaltender. He played for theNew York Rangers andChicago Black Hawks in the 1960s and 1970s.
Villemure was born inTrois-Rivières,Quebec.
During the off-season, Villemure was a professional harness racehorse driver. He now resides inLevittown, New York.
Villemure played a season in the junior leagues with theGuelph Biltmores of theOntario Hockey Association (OHA). He then spent ten years in the minor leagues, principally with theVancouver Canucks of theWestern Hockey League (WHL), theBaltimore Clippers and theBuffalo Bisons of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL). He was a star in the minors; in each of his final two seasons in the AHL,1968–69 and1969–70, he won theLes Cunningham Award with the Bisons as the league's most valuable player, leading all goaltenders in the playoffs the second year to backstop the Bisons to theCalder Cup in their final season. During his minor league career, he led his league in goals against average three times and in shutouts five times. During this time he was called up on several brief occasions by the New York Rangers, with whom he had signed in 1964.
The1970–71 season saw Villemure called to the NHL for good as the Rangers' backup toEddie Giacomin. Over the next three seasons, Villemure recorded a sparkling 66–27–10 mark, with ten shutouts and a goals-against average never higher than 2.30, and shared theVezina Trophy with Giacomin in 1971. He played in theNHL All-Star Game all three seasons, allowing only a single goal and recording the lowest career GAA of any All-Star Game goaltender. The Rangers were a powerhouse at that time, finishing second in the league, and reaching theStanley Cup Finals in1972, being the runners-up in both the regular season and playoffs to theBoston Bruins. Due to Giacomin injuring his knee in the semi-finals against the Chicago Black Hawks, Villemure played in Games Two, Five, and Six.
By the1974–75 season, with both goaltenders aging, Villemure had become the number one goaltender in New York, but had only modest success, and was traded to theChicago Black Hawks in the off-season. He backed upTony Esposito and appeared in only 21 games in two years, and he retired after the1976–77 season.
In 2009, the book100 Ranger Greats ranked Villemure No. 48 all-time of the901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first82 seasons.[1]
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1958–59 | Trois-Rivières Reds | QJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1958–59 | Troy Bruins | IHL | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 180 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1959–60 | Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters | OHA | 35 | — | — | — | 1980 | 128 | 1 | 3.66 | — | 5 | — | — | 300 | 19 | 1 | 3.80 | — | ||
| 1960–61 | New York Rovers | EHL | 51 | 16 | 34 | 1 | 3060 | 223 | 1 | 4.37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1961–62 | Long Island Ducks | EHL | 65 | 25 | 39 | 1 | 3900 | 242 | 3 | 3.72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1961–62 | Charlotte Checkers | EHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 7 | 0 | 7.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1961–62 | Johnstown Jets | EHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 70 | 35 | 31 | 4 | 4200 | 228 | 5 | 3.26 | — | 7 | 3 | 4 | 429 | 27 | 1 | 3.78 | — | ||
| 1963–64 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 66 | 31 | 33 | 2 | 3960 | 192 | 3 | 2.91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 | New York Rangers | NHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 300 | 18 | 0 | 3.60 | .899 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 60 | 27 | 26 | 6 | 3676 | 212 | 2 | 3.46 | — | 5 | 1 | 4 | 309 | 17 | 0 | 3.30 | — | ||
| 1965–66 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 69 | 32 | 34 | 3 | 4178 | 223 | 5 | 3.20 | — | 7 | 3 | 4 | 420 | 27 | 0 | 3.86 | — | ||
| 1966–67 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 70 | 34 | 27 | 9 | 4180 | 238 | 4 | 3.42 | — | 9 | 4 | 5 | 569 | 39 | 0 | 4.11 | — | ||
| 1967–68 | New York Rangers | NHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 200 | 8 | 1 | 2.40 | .934 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 37 | 18 | 13 | 6 | 2160 | 89 | 3 | 2.47 | — | 5 | 1 | 3 | 247 | 15 | 0 | 3.64 | — | ||
| 1968–69 | New York Rangers | NHL | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 240 | 9 | 0 | 2.25 | .921 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | .882 | ||
| 1968–69 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 62 | 36 | 12 | 14 | 3674 | 148 | 6 | 2.42 | — | 6 | 2 | 4 | 360 | 19 | 1 | 3.17 | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 65 | — | — | — | 3714 | 156 | 8 | 2.52 | — | 14 | 11 | 3 | 875 | 31 | 1 | 2.13 | — | ||
| 1970–71 | New York Rangers | NHL | 34 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 2039 | 78 | 4 | 2.30 | .919 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 6 | 0 | 4.50 | .829 | ||
| 1971–72 | New York Rangers | NHL | 37 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 2129 | 74 | 3 | 2.09 | .913 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 360 | 14 | 0 | 2.33 | .919 | ||
| 1972–73 | New York Rangers | NHL | 34 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 2040 | 78 | 3 | 2.29 | .910 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 1.67 | .935 | ||
| 1973–74 | New York Rangers | NHL | 21 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1054 | 62 | 0 | 3.53 | .880 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | ||
| 1974–75 | New York Rangers | NHL | 45 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2470 | 130 | 2 | 3.16 | .888 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 94 | 6 | 0 | 3.83 | .854 | ||
| 1975–76 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 15 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 797 | 57 | 0 | 4.29 | .859 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 312 | 28 | 0 | 5.38 | .843 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 205 | 100 | 64 | 29 | 11,581 | 542 | 13 | 2.81 | .899 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 656 | 32 | 0 | 2.93 | .898 | ||||
"Villemure's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved2017-08-07.

| Preceded by | Winner of theVezina Trophy withEddie Giacomin 1971 | Succeeded by |