Gerry O’Flaherty played 438 games in the National Hockey League, but growing up in Etobicoke he wasn’t a surefire star. “When we watched the games at Michael Power, he was never the best player on the ice,” Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame past chair Jim Sturino said of the right winger. “But he had the most determination. He had a goal, and he went for it.”
O’Flaherty chuckled when told of Sturino’s critique of his high school game.“That’s very fair to say of my whole career, for every team I played on,” he said. Though his physical ability took him to the NHL, O’Flaherty stayed there and carved out a niche as a solid two-way forward thanks to what he described as “a great desire to succeed and win the hockey game, and to give an all-out effort every game, in every sport.”
Gerard Joseph O’Flaherty was born in Pittsburgh on August 31, 1950. His father, John “Peanuts” O’Flaherty, had a long minor hockey career, starring with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League. When baby Gerry was three weeks old, the family moved to Toronto, eventually settling on Hampshire Heights and becoming members of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church. O’Flaherty was an athletic child, equally at home on the baseball field and golf course as he was playing Knights of Columbus hockey at the outdoor Central Arena. “I played all sports,” said O’Flaherty, who suited upfor the Kingsway Baseball Association and played high school football and hockey at Michael Power.
But it was on the ice where O’Flaherty found a home, honing his shooting and stickhandling skills as a forward with Power and Queensway of the Etobicoke Hockey Association, where he played under coach Brian Tuckwell. He didn’t practice much with his father, who was constantly on the road, but the elder O’Flaherty nevertheless had a major influence on his son. “My father was always involved in hockey, and I was always a huge hockey fan, so wherever he coached or managed I would follow along and watch the games, and obviously learn from his example and hard work,” O’Flaherty said.
He liked hockey, but never imagined he would turn pro. “I was just going along from year to year, playing and enjoying the game,” O’Flaherty said. “I always hoped and prayed to be a hockey player, I just never thought it would come to pass.”
O’Flaherty played in the Metro Toronto Hockey League with the North York Rangers Junior B squad in 1967-68, and skated with Kitchener’s Junior B team in the Ontario Hockey Association the following year. He played only one year of Junior A with the Kitchener Rangers, but it was a very good year, as O’Flaherty notched 78 points in 54 games and caught the eye of some Toronto Maple Leafs scouts. Halfway through the 1969-70 season, the Rangers coach put O’Flaherty on a new line, and his scoring picked up in the season’s second half. “Most of the sports I played were team sports, which meant being associated with linemates and teammates and working together as a unit to win games,” he said. “It’s luck, but I guess you have to make your own luck as well by working together as a unit.”
The 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was held in Montreal. “I got a phone call that night telling me I had been drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round,” O’Flaherty remembered. He had been selected 36th overall. “It was a great honour to get drafted, andalso a great honour to get drafted by my hometown team,” he said.
The young forward enjoyed success in the CHL, recording two straight 20-goal seasons with the Tulsa Oilers before getting the fateful call to join the big club. On Christmas night in 1971, O’Flaherty skated onto the ice of Maple Leaf Gardens to make his NHL debut against the Detroit Red Wings. (Despite his father having been general manager of the Toronto Marlies, O’Flaherty grew up idolizing Gordie Howe and the Red Wings.) “It was a fantastic Christmas present,” O’Flaherty said of his first game. “It was a dream come true. I played on a line with Norm Ullman and Ron Ellis, two famous Maple Leafs. I was just on cloud nine.”
O’Flaherty played two games with Toronto, and was left unprotected in the 1972 Intra-League Draft. The Vancouver Canucks listened to a scout of theirs who knew Gerryquite well – his father, John – and plucked the right winger from the Leafs. “When I wentto Vancouver it was their third year as a hockey team,” O’Flaherty said. “As a new franchise, the fans were totally into it. They respected us for working hard.” He spent the bulk of his career in Vancouver, and he and his family enjoyed the experience so much that they still make their home there today. “It was all new to everyone, and we all grew together, the fans and the players,” O’Flaherty of playing for the Canucks. “I was just a hockey player doing what I enjoyed and loved.”
Over six seasons and 435 games in Vancouver, O’Flaherty netted 98 goals and added 85 assists for 193 total points. Skating alongside Garry Monahan and Chris Oddleifson, O’Flaherty registered three consecutive 20-goal seasons, and contributed four points in seven games during the 1975-76 playoffs. Playing with the Atlanta Flames, O’Flaherty scored a goal in his final NHL game on March 3, 1979.
In September 1976, O’Flaherty was chosen to represent the United States at the inaugural Canada Cup. He said it was a thrill to be asked to suit up for the American team, even if, despite his American birth certificate, he felt as though he were a Canadian. “I never really considered myself an American. I’d never played in the US, never lived in the US,”he said. “But it was just an honour to play in that tournament, at a level almost above the NHL.” Crowds in Toronto, Montreal and Philadelphia gave the players a raucous welcome. “It was a fantastic tournament,” O’Flaherty said. “The only other tournament of its kind was the ‘72 Summit Series. It was a new concept and it evolved into a huge deal after that.”
Like his father before him, O’Flaherty became a scout after his playing career ended. He evaluated amateur players for 24 years with the Montreal Canadiens, during which time he won Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993, the last year a Canadian team won the championship. O’Flaherty is now in his tenth year as a pro scout with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “I look for free agents and help with trades. It’s always a team effort – never just one individual,” he said. It was as a scout that O’Flaherty enjoyed one of his proudestmoments in hockey, watching the Lightning win the 2004 Stanley Cup in a thrilling Game 7 alongside his two sons. “I had a big party at my house with the Stanley Cup, which I thought would never happen,” O’Flaherty said. Scouting, he said, is “a continuation of my love of hockey. I still love hockey, and I still love going to games.” O’Flaherty credited his wife, Mary, for caring for their three children in Vancouver whilehe traveled and played.
The O’Flaherty family has made a significant contribution to hockey. As head of player development, Gerry’s brother Bill helped assemble the Los Angeles Kings team that won the Stanley Cup in 2012. His brother John worked closely with the late John Ferguson when he was in charge of the Winnipeg Jets. O’Flaherty said he feels humbled by his induction to the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame. “It’s a huge honour for me to have my picture alongside my father’s,” he said.