 That was not his first brush with danger, however—in 1939 he was traveling with his mother on the passenger liner Athenia when it was hit by a torpedo fired by a Nazi German U-boat and sank, and he and his mother spent several hours in a lifeboat before being rescued.Gadsby was a First Team All-Star three times and a Second Team All-Star four times.In 1958–59, he set a record for assists by a defenceman, with 46.