NHL great Doug Gilmour needs a Navigator for his three kids and hockey bags.JENNIFER ROBERTS
Doug Gilmour
Profession: Retired NHL player, general manager of the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL
Age: 47
Hometown: Kingston, Ont.
Notable achievements:
- Won a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1988-89; scored the game-winning goal that captured the cup
- won the Frank J. Selke Trophy (NHL's best defensive forward) with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1992-93
- nominated for the Hart Trophy (NHL's most valuable player) in 1993
- charitable events including R.A.L Memorial Celebrity Event and Bring Home a Stanley Cup Champion campaign
Currently: General manager of the Kingston Frontenacs
*****
At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, he's small by hockey standards, but Doug Gilmour made his mark on the ice.
Nicknamed "Killer" for his nasty demeanour, he was an outstanding offensive and defensive forward during his career with seven NHL teams, starting as a rookie with the St. Louis Blues in 1983 and ending in 2003 after a single game in his second go-around as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Today, he's the general manager of the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League.
To get to practice, he drives big trucks like the two 2008 Land Rovers he owned - one in white and one in black. However, he just dumped the black one for a used 2009 Lincoln Navigator.
Why did you buy a Navigator?
My son-in-law had a Lincoln Navigator so I just bought that one off him. The Navigator is a great vehicle. It's actually American.
My son-in-law played with Detroit's farm team in Grand Rapids and now he's playing in Sweden so he doesn't need it. My daughter has a small Hummer H3 so they just share that now. I didn't want the Hummer - been there, done that.
The Navigator has seats in the back and has more room. We have a little girl, 2-1/2-year-old Victoria, Jake is turning 15 and Tyson is turning 13 so that's three in the back seat right there and I need luggage space as well for hockey bags.
Are you a gear head - do you know what's under the hood?
No. No. I know it's a V-8 and its got power. Beyond that I know nothing about it. I know how to put it in drive and go.
What was your first car?
It was 1983 when I signed my first contract with St. Louis - my signing bonus was $10,000 and I bought my brother-in-law's white and baby-blue-striped Z28.
That lasted about a year - I got to Missouri and I needed to change. I also had a little Ford Escort GT when they came out. It was front-wheel-drive and that was my go-to-the-rink car. Those days were different as far as the amount of money you made.
What else have you owned?
I got to Calgary and I had a Nissan 240 and an older Mercedes 300 diesel - it was tough in Calgary to get it going some days.
Then I went to bigger trucks - I had a Tahoe, a Cadillac Escalade, an old-style Hummer when I was in Jersey.
I had a Porsche as well. I had a Ferrari at one time - I had it for a year and then I went back to Chicago to store it and Frank Thomas from the Chicago White Sox bought it.
From there, I went back to trucks. In my 30s, I stayed with the trucks and was more responsible.
The Land Rover is a black truck with tinted windows and black rims. I do pimp it up a little bit. It's a vehicle I've had for more than years and performed unbelievable for me - I've had no issues going from 10,000 km to 90,000 km. But the lease was up.
It's got great speed. Those days of speeding have passed me. Now I'm a 120 driver on the highway. It's a little more about safety. For me driving all the time, I've gone through snowstorms and some white-knuckled times but it's held up very, very well. It's a gas guzzler, but with kids and everything else it's safety for me.
I'd rather challenge the gas than jeopardize my kids.
In the early '90s I had two Harleys - boys and their toys.
I drove one down to the rink one day, to the old Maple Leaf Gardens, and my general manager saw me drive in and pretty much read me the riot act. I sold both of them about a week later.
So you don't ride any more?
I shouldn't say that. I have. My neighbours up in Kingston have Harleys so I have been on them.
Am I going back to it? No. I really enjoyed motorcycles. As you know as a motorcycle driver you worry about other people not yourself.
You've owned a lot of vehicles - any lemons in the bunch?
All of the vehicles I've had have been responsible and got me to the places I needed to go.
Now I'm on the highway a lot so I just drive a truck. I've gone through cars my whole life. I've been all over the map. When you're younger and you have an opportunity to have a car for a year or two - they were all great in different ways.
What do you listen to on the road?
I'm all over the map - I listen to sports stations and country.
When I was playing it would be a lot of Tragically Hip, Pearl Jam, Metallica. When the kids are in the car I usually have Dora on. When the boys are in there, they'll watch movies in the back.
If I could bring you the keys to any vehicle what would it be?
I really enjoy the look of the four-door Maserati. If I didn't travel as much as I do, I would go with a Maserati.
What's your driving style - do you like speed?
When you have a Porsche and Ferrari, you like speed.
I remember I had to come to Toronto a couple of times and I did punch it on the highway a little bit because I had to leave at 4:30 in the morning and have treatment at 8. I was living in Kingston at the time.
Every once in a while you'd step on it a little bit. My style is not a fast driver - I'm very conservative now.
Did you get any speeding tickets with the Porsche or Ferrari?
No. I honestly never did.
I never challenged it. If there was a stretch of highway with nobody around I might step on it to see how it goes, but that was maybe for 30 seconds.
Knock on wood, I try not to go too fast or stay in the range of most other people.
The interview has been edited and condensed.
Petrina Gentile