Gerry Brisson

Gerry Brisson
Born	(1937-09-03)September 3, 1937 St. Boniface, MB, CAN
Died	January 16, 2013(2013-01-16) (aged 75) Mesa, AZ, USA
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	NHL  Montreal Canadiens AHL  Quebec Aces
Playing career	1957–1967

Gerald Joseph Brisson (September 3, 1937 – January 16, 2013) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger. He was born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba. He died at his home in Mesa, Arizona on January 16, 2013.

Playing career

Signed by the Montreal Canadiens organization at age 16, Brisson came up through the minor hockey ranks in St. Boniface, Manitoba to star with the St. Boniface Canadiens in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, and later another Montreal Canadiens farm team, the Peterborough TPT's of the Ontario Junior Hockey Association, where he led the team in scoring with 51 points in 52 games. He started his professional hockey career in 1958 in the Western Hockey League (WHL), playing for the Winnipeg Warriors where he was one of the league's top rookies, earning 83 points in his first season, and compiling 91 goals and 103 assists in 3 full seasons with the Warriors. He next played for the WHL Spokane Comets for two seasons, matching his best season with another 83 points and earning a call up to the Montreal Canadiens where he played four games in the 1962-63 season, earning two assists. He made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut in the Montreal Forum against the Boston Bruins. He then went on to play in the WHL for the San Francisco Seals where he won a WHL Championship (1963–64), the Seattle Totems and again with the San Francisco Seals. He had a short stint in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Quebec Aces and led MSHL St. Boniface Mohawks to a MSHL championship (1968–69) as a player-coach. Brisson was selected to numerous WHL All-star Teams during his career.

Coaching career

After an 11-year career as a professional hockey player, Brisson embarked on a 10-year career as a coach, general manager and Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) franchise owner. He began his coaching career as a player-coach for the St. Boniface Mohawks (1968–69), then coached the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) West Kildonan North Stars for one season (1969–70), made his WCHL coaching debut with the Brandon Wheat Kings (1970–71), returned to the MJHL for one season to coach the Winnipeg Monarchs (1971–72), then back to the Western Canada Hockey League to coach the Winnipeg Junior Jets (1972–73), Winnipeg Clubs(1973–76), Winnipeg Monarchs(1976–77) and finally the Calgary Wranglers (1977–78). Gerry later went on to coach the Innisfil Eagles of the Chinook Hockey League where he won a Provincial Title in the 92/93 Season.

Owner / builder career

Brisson was an owner in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) for 6 years. After one year as coach, Brisson bought the Winnipeg Junior Jets in 1972. In order to differentiate from the newly formed Winnipeg Jets of the WHA he renamed the team the Winnipeg Clubs (1973–76) and later the Winnipeg Monarchs (1976–77). In 1977 he moved his Winnipeg WCHL franchise to Calgary, Alberta and the Calgary Wranglers were born. The Calgary Wranglers remained active in the WCHL until 1987. He sold the Calgary Wrangler franchise in 1979 and retired from Hockey to pursue other business interests.

Awards and achievements

• WHL Prairie Division First All-Star Team (1959)

Career statistics

Player

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1953–54	St. Boniface Canadiens	MJHL		1	0	0	0	0
1954–55	St. Boniface Canadiens	MJHL		29	20	21	41	14		-	-	-	-	-
1955–56	St. Boniface Canadiens	MJHL		21	30	19	49	45		10	12	3	15	4
1955–56	St. Boniface Canadiens	Memorial Cup		-	-	-	-	-		6	6	3	9	2
1956–57	St. Boniface Canadiens	MJHL		22	21	19	40	60		7	4	6	10	2
1957–58	Peterborough TPT's	OHA		52	28	23	51	0		5	3	0	3	2
1957–58	Montreal Royals	QHL		2	0	0	0	0
1957–58	Winnipeg Warriors	WHL		1	1	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
1958–59	Winnipeg Warriors	WHL		62	38	45	83	20		7	5	0	5	2
1959–60	Winnipeg Warriors	WHL		66	24	32	56	20		-	-	-	-	-
1960–61	Winnipeg Warriors	WHL		70	29	26	55	35		-	-	-	-	-
1961–62	Spokane Comets	WHL		70	44	39	83	60		16	7	9	16	16
1962–63	Spokane Comets	WHL		66	26	21	47	44		-	-	-	-	-
1962–63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		4	0	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-
1963–64	San Francisco Seals	WHL		50	18	25	43	15		11	6	2	8	4
1963–64	Quebec Aces	AHL		12	0	1	6	-		-	-	-	-	-
1964–65	Seattle Totems	WHL		63	19	19	38	35		7	0	1	1	2
1965–66	San Francisco Seals	WHL		65	22	15	37	23		3	0	0	0	0
1966–67	California Seals	WHL		7	1	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-
1968–69	St. Boniface Mohawks	MSHL
NHL totals				4	0	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-

Coach

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OTL		Result
1968–69	St. Boniface Mohawks	MSHL		24	11	10	3	0
1969–70	West Kildonan North Stars	MJHL		34	12	18	4	0
1976–77	Winnipeg Monarchs	WCHL		72	31	34	7	0		Lost Round 2
1977–78	Calgary Wranglers	WCHL		72	18	40	4	0		Did Not Qualify

External links

• Gerry Brisson career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Gerry Brisson biography at Legends of Hockey (archived)