As part of the American Hockey League’s 70th anniversary this season, theahl.com will be taking a look at some of the legendary careers that have been carved in the AHL over the last seven decades.
Discovered playing amateur hockey in his native Moncton, N.B., Dick Gamble became one of the most prolific scorers in American Hockey League history as well as a National Hockey League all-star.
Gamble skated three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, appearing in the NHL all-star game and winning a Stanley Cup championship in 1953. He made his AHL debut in 1954-55 with the Buffalo Bisons, needing just 45 games to score a team-leading 38 goals and earning a Second Team AHL All-Star nod.
Gamble returned to Buffalo in 1957 and would score at least 30 goals in 10 of the next 12 AHL seasons. He moved east to Rochester in 1961 and soon became one of the faces of the burgeoning franchise.
In 1964-65, Gamble set a career benchmark by scoring 48 goals for the Amerks and leading the team to their first Calder Cup championship. A year later, he won the AHL’s scoring title with a personal-best 98 points and was named league MVP as Rochester won a second straight Cup. A 46-goal season in 1966-67 helped the Amerks to the Finals for the third year in a row, and in 1968, he helped bring Rochester its third championship in four seasons.
In 1968-69, Gamble became player/coach of the Americans and put up one more 30-goal season. He hung up his skates for good seven games into the following season.
Gamble earned a total of six postseason AHL All-Star berths (two First Team, four Second Team), and was inducted as an original member of the Amerks Hall of Fame in 1986. Earlier this year, he was named to the starting lineup for the franchise’s 50th Anniversary Team.
Gamble ranks fourth all-time in AHL history with 468 goals and fifth with 892 points in 898 career AHL games.
| Career AHL Statistics – Dick Gamble | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1954-55 | Buffalo Bisons | 45 | 38 | 21 | 59 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| 1957-58 | Buffalo Bisons | 70 | 32 | 22 | 54 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1958-59 | Buffalo Bisons | 70 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 24 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| 1959-60 | Buffalo Bisons | 72 | 27 | 50 | 77 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1960-61 | Buffalo Bisons | 72 | 40 | 36 | 76 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 1961-62 | Rochester Americans | 66 | 39 | 29 | 68 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1962-63 | Rochester Americans | 70 | 35 | 22 | 57 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1963-64 | Rochester Americans | 72 | 34 | 34 | 68 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964-65 | Rochester Americans | 70 | 48 | 29 | 77 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 6 |
| 1965-66 | Rochester Americans | 71 | 47 | 51 | 98 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 16 |
| 1966-67 | Rochester Americans | 72 | 46 | 37 | 83 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 1967-68 | Rochester Americans | 67 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 18 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 1968-69 | Rochester Americans | 74 | 30 | 37 | 67 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969-70 | Rochester Americans | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| AHL Totals | 898 | 468 | 424 | 892 | 295 | 77 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 64 | |
