 Born in Montreal, Gilbert grew up a fan of the Montreal Canadiens.While playing junior hockey for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters of the OHA in 1960, Gilbert slipped on some garbage strewn on the ice and fell back into the boards, breaking a vertebra in his back and temporarily paralyzing him.Corrective surgery went awry and led to hemorrhaging in his leg, and doctors feared amputation would be necessary, but Gilbert recovered.