Larry Gibbons makes the Sports Hall of Fame as an aggressive all-around athlete.
Born in Collingwood, he grew up fast and always looked three or four years older than his team mates and opponents when he performed for the minor hockey and ball teams.
He came through the Collingwood Minor Hockey system and looked like a Juvenile when he played bantam, much to the consternation of the other kids and their parents.
Larry drew the attention of the scouts when he played a major part in helping the
Collingwood Bantams reach the finals in the Bantam Division of the O.M.H.A.
After a season with the Collingwood Junior “C” club, he was drafted by the
Toronto Marlboros and sent to the Markham Junior “B” club for the 1965-66 season where he was named to the Metro Junior “B” All-Star team.
Drafted in the second round by the Chicago Black Hawks while still Midget age, he was assigned to the St. Catherine’s Black Hawks in the Junior “A” loop for two seasons in 1967 and 68.
Although he never made the N.H.L. he played eight years in the Black Hawk organization.
Larry joined the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League in the 1968-69
season and was with the same team when the Generals won the Southern Division
championship in 1970.
He jumped back to Senior “A” hockey with Oakville in 1971 and was voted the league’s
most valuable defenseman.
After another season with the Greensboro club in 1972 he went to the Flint Generals in the International League where he set a team record in scoring for defensemen in 1973.Flint won the Northern Division championship.
He starred with the Dallas Black Hawks when that team won the Central League title
and the Adams Trophy in 1974.
After another full season with Dallas, Larry moved back with the Flint Generals in the International League and retired at the end of the 1975-76 season.
For three summers he directed the Detroit Red Wings Hockey School in Bracebridge and for two more summers conducted the Wasaga Stars School at Wasaga Beach.
He coached the Alliston Juniors to the Ontario semi-finals before calling it a hockey career.
Larry was an exceptionally good football player and was named the most valuable
player with the Collingwood Collegiate Seniors in 1965. He had considerable placed well up in the Ontario Schools Ski Racing programme.
Always a lover of horses, he became a certified farrier and was assistant manager of
the Ontario Harnessmens’ Association for two years. Involved as an owner, trainer and driver of Standard Bred horses since 1972, Larry owned and operated the Intosh Harness Supplies Ltd. and Custom Blend Horse Feeds, coupled with a busy mail order horse supply businesses and the operation of the Tack Store at Windsor Raceway.
His uncle, Alex MacMurchy, a well known former long distance runner, was one of the first athletes to be inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.