Gilbert NFT fundraiser ties Rangers legend to charity after his death

It's been just more than 10 months since New York Rangers legend Rod Gilbert died, claimed by cancer Aug. 19. There are many mementos that his wife, Judy, thinks of, but she finds that she returns to three most often.

"The Andy Warhol," she said in conversation, mentioning the 40-inch-square silkscreen on canvas that hangs in her Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, one of 10 athletes whose portraits the late, iconic pop artist produced on commission in 1977 and '78.
"Rod's skates. And his Hockey Hall of Fame plaque, which recognizes his looks," she added with a laugh, quoting from the 1982 glass: "'He was a smooth skater whose good looks and prolific scoring made him a crowd favorite.' I don't think he ever cared about that, but I think it's pretty cool.
"Rod was a triple threat with his looks and his talent and his personality. And his sense of humor. I miss all of that. It's a big void."

Rod Gilbert in action with the New York Rangers during the 1970s.
Judy said the list might be different if she were asked tomorrow, so many things about the man known as "Mr. Ranger" around her in memorabilia and memory.
Somewhere is the ash Sher-Wood PMP 5030 hockey stick that the Rangers' all-time leading scorer would bang on the metal balcony of their apartment two years ago, his nightly 7 p.m. 33rd-floor salute to New York's health-care professionals and others, from the convenience-store workers to the trash collectors who were caring for thousands during the peak of the coronavirus.
Rod Gilbert knew he that he was in the vise-grip of cancer when he spoke about his stick-tap salute in March 2020, but he wanted that to be no part of the story about others who were doing selfless work during the pandemic, others he wanted to support.

Rod Gilbert and his wife, Judy, with Ronald McDonald House board member Steven Bensinger in February 2019 during the 25th annual Skate With The Greats at Rockefeller Center.
That was a reflection of a man about whom others were the prime part of his day, be they the focal point of his charity work or everyday Rangers fans. Gilbert almost comically would say that he was going to a game at Madison Square Garden "in case there's a Rangers fan I haven't met."
He met countless thousands as the face of his team -- at the Garden, in hospitals, at banquets fancy and low key, and at myriad fundraisers to benefit the Rangers' Garden of Dreams Foundation.
Judy continues to raise funds for the Foundation even today, a
one-week sale and two-tiered auction
of digital non-fungible token (NFT) No. 7 jersey patches running through July 1, which would have been her husband's 81st birthday.

Judy Gilbert presents Rangers forward Chris Kreider, seen in action with the team's commemorative No. 7 patch on his shoulder, with the first annual Rod Gilbert "Mr. Ranger" Award on April 27, 2022 at Madison Square Garden. The award goes to the Rangers player "who best honors Rod's legacy by exemplifying leadership qualities both on and off the ice and making a significant humanitarian contribution to his community."
The Foundation is a non-profit charity whose mission is to bring life-changing opportunities to young people in need. It works with MSG Entertainment, which features iconic showplaces, regional sports and entertainment TV networks and the world-famous Rockettes, and MSG Sports, whose properties includes the Rangers and the NBA's New York Knicks.
Sewing this together, the Foundation provides access to educational and skills opportunities, mentoring programs and memorable experiences that enhance the lives of young people.
"Rod was always forward-thinking, so I think he'd have appreciated what we're doing now," Judy Gilbert said of the current offerings of NFTs. "From the beginning of this, the idea was that all the money raised would go to the Garden of Dreams Foundation, which is what Rod would have wanted. He was very passionate about the foundation, so I think in that respect, he'd be very happy about it."
Judy's daughter, Holly, works for Fanaply, a heavyweight in the digital realm of NFTs.

No. 7 jersey patches that are up for auction as part of the Rangers' fundraising effort on behalf of the Garden of Dreams Foundation.
"Holly said to me, 'You know what? I'm going to do this,'" Judy said.
The idea of featuring the Hall of Famer's skates was considered, but Judy always came back to the commemorative patch that the Rangers wore on their shoulders this season and through three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I thought, 'Why don't we resurrect the power of the patch?'" she recalled of the initiative fully funded by Fanaply. "So many people saw it and talked about it. It's something we're proud and honored that the Rangers would have done."
Judy chuckled about the current fundraiser, offering fans a digital product that her husband couldn't have signed.
"Rod would get autograph requests in the mail, his favorite thing, and he was so happy especially if there was cash or a cheque for charity in the envelope," she said. "If there wasn't, he'd send it back with a note requesting a donation and I'd laugh and say, 'You're just sending them an autograph anyway.'
"I realized how important it was to him right to the end, even when he was sick. It put a smile on his face when he could sign."

Rod Gilbert and fellow Rangers legend Brian Leetch speak during Ronald McDonald House New York's Skate With The Greats on Feb. 21, 2020. Gilbert was proud that Leetch joined him at many events and will carry on ambassador duties for the Rangers.
As long as his declining health would permit, Gilbert was delighted to go to the Garden on a game night, seeking out Kristine Burton, then the Garden of Dreams Foundation's vice-president who directed a large part of his charity-aimed life.
"Kristine would say that she'd stay at work another 15 minutes because she knew Rod was coming," Judy said. "He'd arrive and announce, 'Kristine, where are you, I have money!' He'd pull cash and cheques out of his pockets and wallet and shirt and he'd tell her stories, ask her what was going on with the Garden of Dreams that day."
Children flocked to him, no matter that they'd never seen him play even one of the 1,065 games he skated between 1960-77, all for the Rangers, scoring a franchise-record 406 goals and 1,021 points.
"Kristine said that Rod had such a special gift of connection with these kids, they were all so special to him," Judy said. "They might never have seen him play but they saw his (retired) number in the Garden rafters and they knew the jersey he'd wear when he came to see them. He'd take them to clinics and introduce them to hockey.

Rod Gilbert with linemates Jean Ratelle (center) and Vic Hadfield during Hadfield's jersey retirement at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 2, 2018.
"The way he'd connect with kids was just a special gift. It was beautiful. Kristine said that Rod never, ever said no. That's what he was when it came to Garden of Dreams. He was devoted to that, to Ronald McDonald House New York, to any charity he worked for. His goal to raise awareness of a cause and raise money for it was incomparable.
"He'd go to apartments in the Bronx, bringing Christmas gifts or food or even furniture to the underprivileged. He loved the Foundation's talent show at Radio City. We'd get dressed up and he'd present one of the kids dancing or performing on piano."
Judy remains active in many of the causes that were dear to Rod and herself, but the word "legacy" doesn't seem right to her when she considers her husband's decades-long investment of time and energy in charity work.

Wearing her late husband's No. 7 Rangers jersey, Judy Gilbert waves to Madison Square Garden fans on April 27, 2022, presenting the first annual Rod Gilbert "Mr. Ranger" Award to Chris Kreider.
"Rod didn't care about a legacy," she said. "Legacy is when someone wants to leave some kind of image of themselves, a heroic thing, an ego thing. He didn't have that. He just wanted to set good examples.
"He always shared the limelight. It was never about ego, it was always about the cause. I think he just wanted me, and other people, to do good work."
Indeed, Gilbert long considered fellow Rangers legend Brian Leetch a bit of a protege, his successor in many ways in the Rangers community.
Now, 10 months after her husband's death, Judy Gilbert considers the messages she receives from a soulmate she often called "Pinky" for his love of shirts of that hue, things that are a coincidence, or not.
"Rod was honored for his work with ALS in early May and I accepted his award at the Plaza Hotel," said Judy, who also was recognized for her efforts that night. "Immediately after it was presented, a single piece of confetti from the ceiling landed on our table of 12. It was pink."

Rod and Judy Gilbert's award for their ALS work, including a single piece of pink confetti, and her program from The Music Man, on vacant Seat No. 7.
The family placed Gilbert's cremated remains in a mausoleum in New Jersey. Unbeknownst to them until that moment, the area in which he was being placed is named "The Garden," Madison Square Garden having been Gilbert's second home for six decades.
And Judy and her daughter, Brooke, attended a Dec. 22 performance of the hit show "The Music Man" at New York's Winter Garden Theater, a musical starring Hugh Jackman. Gilbert knew Jackman well, naturally, because there wasn't anyone of note in any walk of New York life with whom Mr. Ranger wasn't friendly.
"We were in Row R, Seats 9 and 11, Seat 7 beside us," Judy remembered. "There wasn't one other empty seat in the theater, but there was no one in 7. I said to Brooke, 'Someone is surely coming,' but Brooke said, 'Mom, no one is coming.'"
No one sat in Seat 7 that night, though today Judy wonders whether that was indeed the case.
Photos: Israel Cortes; Graphic Artists, Hockey Hall of Fame; Getty Images; Judy Gilbert