Gary Rissling Interview

Late last season, I had a chance to chat with former Washington Capital and Hershey Bear, Gary Rissling. We discussed a number of topics, including what he’s currently doing in his retirement, his thoughts on playing and living in Hershey, and his memories of Frank Mathers, and playing with Mitch Lamoureux.

JS: After a 10 year career in pro hockey, you retired after the 1986-87 season. What are you doing now?

Gary Rissling: I’m working for a company called Silver Spring Mining Company. We have three restaurants in the Baltimore region (Hunt Valley, Perry Hall and Bel Air) and I’m an owner. I’m married with two girls in college.

JS: You played 102 games with Hershey in your career. What was it like playing there?

Gary Rissling: It was a great experience playing and living there. Hershey is a great town, very family-oriented, with great fans. I had great friends there then and still have some great friends up there now. It was always awesome to come back, and I always called it home because it was with the Bears that I signed my first pro contract. I just absolutely loved Hershey. There is so much history of hockey there, with all of great people that have played there, and I was very fortunate to be a part of that. That rink, with everybody right on top of you, I still have great memories of it-you could hit the boards and bounce right off.

JS: While playing for Hershey, you had the pleasure of playing under the late Frank Mathers. What are your memories of Frank?

Gary Rissling: I loved him to death, he was a great guy, and he helped me make it to the NHL. I remember one day I came into Frank’s office. I had to go see him because I had received a couple of letters from Jack Butterfield [at the time]. Jack wasn’t happy with me, as I had some fines levied against me and frankly, I didn’t like the way he addressed me, so I sent Jack a letter. I then had to go see Frank about the letters. I got down to his office and his secretary let me in. I went into the room and started raiding his closet where I knew he always had chocolate, and I’m in there filling my pockets because I love chocolate. Meanwhile, Frank comes in and I didn’t see him, he sits down at his desk and says, Gary, you need some more chocolate?

JS: After spending time during the 1979-80 season in Washington with the Capitals, you were sent down to Hershey, and that team went on to win the Calder Cup. Were you surprised when Washington sent you down?

Gary Rissling: It was unbelievable; I had been playing up with Washington when the playoffs started. Max McNab, the Caps GM at the time, asked me if I wanted to come down, and I said absolutely. Doug Gibson was coaching the team, and I didn’t want to take anybody’s spot, but we had a couple of injuries and I was able to step in and play. I even missed two games in the finals due to getting married, and I’m still married to Joan, who is my boss [at Silver Spring Mining Company].

JS: Speaking of your wife, on the night of the Bears final regular season game at HERSHEYPARK Arena, the emcee for the evening, Mike Emrick, told a funny story about you and your bachelor party.

Gary Rissling: What a close team we had. Doug Gibson (player-coach) called a meeting during the playoff run, and we all went down there and I thought it was a hockey meeting. Well, I got down to the room and they tied me up on a stretcher, took my clothes off, marched me through all of the bars in town and left me on Main Street, right by the bank on Chocolate Avenue. Everybody was coming by and beeping their horns and a lot of the police came by and asked me if everything was fine and I said, yeah, I just need to be covered up.

JS: During your career you played quite a few games in HERSHEYPARK Arena, for both the Bears and their archrivals, the Baltimore Skipjacks. What was it like to play in that intense rivalry as a Bear?

Gary Rissling: It was just incredible; as a rookie coming in there, I looked at all of these guys that I had a chance to watch as a younger player. That was in the old days when it was tough hockey, like the Flyers hockey. I grew up watching those guys. We had such an amazing tough team back then–guys like Gordie Lane, Archie Henderson, Nelson Burton and Larry Playfair. We had so many guys; I can’t even begin to mention all of those great tough players. Everybody knows the way I played; I never won a fight in my life. So, it was great to have all of those guys behind me so that I could stir it all up and they would take care of it.

JS: Later in your career you came back to HERSHEYPARK Arena as a visitor with the Skipjacks. Was that a difficult thing to do?

Gary Rissling: Hershey had guys like Al Hill, Tim Tookey and Don Nachbaur. It was just end-to-end old time, hard-nosed hockey and it was a great show for the fans to witness. Ron Hextall, who was always combative, also played for Hershey when I was playing for Baltimore. It seemed like him and I had an altercation every period. You never had a night off playing under such physical conditions, and I know I miss that.

JS: During your time in Baltimore, you played with Hershey Hall of Fame member Mitch Lamoureux in his rookie season in which he scored 57 goals. Did you have any idea that he was destined for stardom in the AHL?

Gary Rissling: At training camp that year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gene Ubriaco the Skipjacks’ coach and another former Hershey great, had me centering on Mitch’s line. When we were both sent to Baltimore, I continued to center him on the checking line, so needless to say he didn’t start his AHL career as a scorer. Later that season, Gene put him on a line with another former Hershey Bear, Mike Gillis, and after that, the goals really started coming for Mitch. Mitch was such a talented young man who took the body, and when he got the puck on his stick, he knew how to put it in the net. For such a small guy, he took a tremendous amount of punishment standing in front of the net, yet with his low center of gravity, he was virtually immovable when camped out there. In today’s NHL with the new rules and given the chance, I think Mitch could score 50 goals.