Jimmy Roberts played sixteen years in the NHL,ten with Montreal where he was on five Stanley Cup winners,and six in St. Louis when the Blues acquired his rights in the 1967 Expansion draft. He then went on to coach twenty-one years at various levels including the NHL and AHL. He was Head Coach of the Springfield Indians when the team won back-to-back Calder Cup AHL Championships in 1989-90 and 1990-91. Throughout his hockey career, his toughness,versatility and work ethic were always on display and never questioned. He passed away in 2015.
Each year since,the Bearcats have a Jimmy Roberts’ Night intended to look back at individuals who grew the game on the qualities he exemplified. Coach Evans was a member of the 1989-90 team. He knew him well.