Jim Gebhardt will be remembered by many Kingston hockey fans as a veteran leader on the great Kingston Aces Senior ‘A’ teams of the 1960’s. But for Gebhardt, who passed away last week at the age of 92, hockey represented just one chapter in a remarkable life of service, leadership and athletic achievement.

A highly respected officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, an educator, coach and builder of sport, Gebhardt spent much of his distinguished career in Kingston at the Royal Military College of Canada. Major Danny McLeod was the Athletic Director at RMC and also coached the Aces. Gebhardt, the veteran defenceman, was a leader for the Aces on and off the ice, and was also a phys-ed instructor & wrestling coach at RMC – working closely with Major McLeod.

Ron Earl remembers as a 19-year-old joining the Aces after starring for the Junior ‘B’ Frontenacs, “Gebhardt was ten years older and a real veteran leader. Jim was likely our oldest player, but he was in better shape than the younger guys. He could play with an edge and knew how to look after himself, one day Gebhardt high-sticked Jim Sprott in practice and Sprott couldn’t believe a teammate would do that to him.”

The pinnacle of success for the Aces came in 1967, they won the OHA Senior A championship, advanced to the Allan Cup Eastern Canada Final and represented Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.

“‘We were getting ready to fly to Switzerland and Gebhardt was unusually quiet,” remembers Earl. “It turns out he was afraid to fly and we all said, “Jim, you’re in the Air Force – how can you be afraid to fly!”

Kingston reached the final at the Spengler Cup, losing to Lokomotiv Moscow 8-4. Rod Graham, a rookie with the Aces, remembers McLeod berating the team between periods in the final game, “Jimmy stood up for the entire room and gave it right back to McLeod. In my eyes from that moment on, it set him apart from all the other guys I’d played with.”

Following the Spengler tournament the Aces went to Sweden and played an exhibition game in Vasteras against a team that had not lost a single home game in their rink in two years. The Aces led 7-3 in the third period when chaos erupted and a wild bench clearing brawl ensued.

Graham, who scored four goals that night, and Gebhardt, the wily veteran, were both right in the middle of it. Graham was chasing a six-foot-six defenceman around the rink and Gebhardt thought he had him cornered. Graham grabbed him and peeled the numbers off his sweater, but the Swede got away, raced to the dressing room and locked the door.

Meanwhile near the Kingston bench, a fan slugged Kingston defenseman Bob Olajos. Gebhardt stepped in and clobbered the fan who had to be removed on a stretcher. Olajos was suspended by the International Ice Hockey Federation and Gebhardt was detained for hours by police for questioning.

Former NHL’er Lorne Ferguson was the first to leave the bench that started the brawl, Fergie had just left the ice after been speared and went after the player who did it. The following day Swedish newspapers ran a photo of Aces players Graham, Gebhardt & teammate Bob Brown, describing them as the “The Three Most Wanted Men In Sweden.” It became a great story that was retold many times back home.

Graham had joined the Aces in the fall of 1967, “I was living in the PMQ’s at CFB Kingston and so was Jimmy, but we didn’t know each other. Jim took me under his wing that first year as a rookie, in the summers we would golf together regularly at Glen Lawrence Golf Club, there were always lots of hockey players around and Jim knew everyone. We have been great friends ever since.”

Gebhardt left Kingston when he was posted overseas to Baden, Germany where he continued his hockey career. Two years later Graham accepted an offer to become a player/coach in Austria. “When I got to Austria in 1971 our goaltender had the worst equipment imagineable, I couldn’t believe it, so I called Jimmy to see if he could help. Two days later he showed up with a new set of full goalie equipment with the only stipulation being he needed it back at the end of the season. It turned out our goalie was really good – once he got the proper equipment.”

During his Aces days the respected Gebhardt would occasionally step in as player/coach when McLeod was away. He would also fill in and coach the RMC varsity team.

Years later in 1990, McLeod was close to 70 and far removed from coaching when Wren Blair of the Kingston Frontenacs came calling. McLeod agreed to coach the Fronts for six games while Randy Hall was away with the Ontario Under-17 team. McLeod brought in Gebhardt to help, along with former Aces Dick Cherry and Bob Collins.         

Born in 1933, Gebhardt grew up in Palmerston, Ontario, a railway town north of Kitchener, where he developed his love of hockey. Coincidentally, another well-known Kingston hockey player and Aces teammate, Lorne Ferguson, three years older than Gebhardt, also hailed from Palmerston.

After joining the Canadian Armed Forces in 1952, Gebhardt was posted to the U.K. where he continued playing hockey. He was the lone Canadian serviceman on the Nottingham Panthers team that captured the British Hockey League championship in 1956.

In 1962 Gebhardt left RCAF Rockcliffe in Ottawa for RMC and would spend a good part of his career in Kingston. Retired Major Bill Oliver, then a corporal, arrived at Rockcliffe in 1965 and heard plenty of stories about Gebhardt, “the buzz in the dressing room was often about Jimmy Gebhardt who had left three years earlier. He was in the conversation as being one of the best players in the Canadian Forces. My teammates had so much respect for him.”

“I only crossed paths with Jim once on the ice. Our CFB Ottawa Falcons team went to the Armed Forces National Hockey Championships in Edmonton in 1974, by then Gebhardt was in his early 40’s but still playing for CFB Chilliwack, he was tough and a real good defenceman.”

That same year in ’74 Rod Graham was called up from Rochester by the Boston Bruins to make his NHL debut just before New Year’s and he flew to Vancouver, “I missed the Bruins game the night before, but Boston practiced there for two days before heading to Los Angeles. Jimmy was posted to Chilliwack and I called him, he came down to spend the day with me.”

Long before sports science became commonplace, Gebhardt was a pioneer in physical fitness training. He developed and introduced the uniform fitness curriculum used to train Canadian military fitness instructors across the country.

During the late 1960’s through Danny McLeod’s connection to Punch Imlach, Gebhardt worked with the Toronto Maple Leafs – overseeing off-ice conditioning at the club’s annual training camp in Peterborough. Jim loved telling stories about that experience and getting to know many future Hockey Hall of Fame players on a personal level.

His contributions extended well beyond hockey. Gebhardt established and coached the RMC wrestling team, organized national coaching clinics in several sports, and during the early 1970s when he was posted to Germany and Austria with NATO, he organized youth hockey clinics for military families.

Jim’s accomplishments earned national recognition. He was appointed to the Military Order of Merit in 1980 and inducted into the Canadian Forces Sports Honour Roll in 1989.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Gebhardt completed the Canadian Armed Forces parachutist course in Edmonton at age 50, proudly earning his jumping wings he would wear on his uniform.

Away from RMC, he remained active in Kingston sports. Gebhardt pitched in the highly competitive Circle Fastball League until he tore a bicep muscle, coached minor hockey with the Kingston Young Nats and for many years was an enthusiastic member of Glen Lawrence and later Garrison Golf Club.

When Gebhardt retired as RMC Athletic Director in 1988, Oliver took over, “there was the biggest two-day retirement party you could imagine for Jim. A golf tournament was held on the Friday and a large event on the Saturday night, so many colleagues, friends and former teammates turned out to honour him,” remembers Oliver.

In 2023, Gebhardt received one of his proudest honours when RMC recognized his decades of service by inducting him as a Builder into the RMC Athletics Wall of Distinction.

As Rod Graham would say, “you couldn’t meet a better person than Jim Gebhardt.”

There is one memory that stands out for me, following a round of golf at Garrison Golf Club a few of us went back to Jim’s home, where he spent the evening over a few beers regaling us with stories from his remarkable hockey career—especially his experiences in Peterborough with the Leafs. Like every great storyteller, Jim had a way of making you feel as though you had been there yourself.

Jim lived just around the corner from me in Kingston’s east-end Grenadier Village and one thing that always stood out was how active he remained. Well into his 80s he could often be found cutting his lawn, tending to his flower gardens or clearing snow from his driveway. He never seemed to slow down.

Jim leaves behind his wife of 65 years, Yvonne, and children David, Sandy and Don.

Kingston has lost not only one of its finest athletes and military officers, but also one of the quiet builders who helped shape sport at RMC and throughout the community for generations.

For those of us fortunate enough to know him, Gebhardt is remembered not only for the championships, military honours and countless contributions he made to RMC and Kingston sport, but for being a true gentleman. His quiet dignity, humility and generosity touched everyone who knew him.

Kingston is a better community because Jim Gebhardt was part of it.

Mark Potter is a longtime Kingston broadcaster and honoured member of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame.