Mike Gartner

Playing career

Gartner was drafted in the 1st round, 4th overall, by the Washington Capitals in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He started his professional career in the WHA as an underager with the Cincinnati Stingers in 1978–79. He played on a line with Mark Messier and had a successful campaign, finishing second to Wayne Gretzky for Rookie-of-the-Year honors. With the WHA folding at the end of the season, he played the next season with the Capitals, and would play for them for the better part of ten seasons. He recorded an assist in his NHL debut on October 11, 1979, versus the Buffalo Sabres, and he wore number eleven for the Caps.

Gartner had a solid season in 1979–80, winning the Capitals' Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, as well as being voted by their fans as the team's Most Promising Player. He also led the team with 36 goals. Gartner was traded to the Minnesota North Stars on March 7, 1989, with Larry Murphy for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse. He left the Capitals as the team's all-time leader in career goals, assists and points, as of January 2017 he stand third in goals and points and fourth in assists.

However, Gartner only lasted one season with Minnesota and was traded to the New York Rangers on March 6, 1990, for Ulf Dahlén, a draft pick and future considerations. He had a strong start with the Rangers scoring two goals in his debut versus the Philadelphia Flyers. He scored eleven goals and sixteen points in the remaining twelve regular season games the Rangers played that year. In 1991–92, he became the first player in NHL history to score his 500th goal, 500th assist, and 1000th point all in the same season. The next season, Gartner became the first Ranger to score at least 40 goals in three consecutive seasons. He also scored four goals in the NHL All-Star Game and earned the All-Star Game MVP award.

In 1993–94, Gartner was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Glenn Anderson, a minor leaguer, and a draft pick. He played with the Leafs until 1996, when he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes, who had just re-located from Winnipeg. Gartner scored the first goal and hat trick in Phoenix history on October 7 against the Boston Bruins, in the franchise's second game since relocation. He played two seasons with the Coyotes before retiring in August 1998.

Gartner was also active with the NHL Players Association. He served as president of the NHLPA from 1996 until his retirement in 1998 and served as Chairman of the Goals & Dreams program with the NHLPA. He resigned from the NHLPA on March 19, 2007.

Gartner is a born-again Christian, and was introduced to the faith during his playing days by former Washington teammate Jean Pronovost. His son, Josh, played goalie for Yale University and right wing for the Tuck School of Business A-Team in the Upper Valley Hockey League.

Gartner and his former teammate, Wes Jarvis, are business partners and own three skating rinks in the Greater Toronto Area located in Newmarket, Ontario, Richmond Hill, Ontario, and Barrie, Ontario.

Distinction

Despite his long impressive career, Gartner never won the Stanley Cup or played in the Cup Finals, never won an NHL award, and was never named to the postseason All-Star Team, being one of the few NHL players with this distinction to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dino Ciccarelli likewise never managed any of these accolades, although he made the Cup Finals twice. Only Phil Housley and Shane Doan have played in more games (1,495 for Housley, 1,540 for Doan) than Gartner without winning the Cup, though Housley participated in the 1998 Cup Finals and was named a Second Team All-Star and Doan has won two NHL awards.

Gartner was a member of the New York Rangers team that would go on to win the championship in 1994, but he was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline. However, Gartner got farther than he ever would in the playoffs that same year, as the Maple Leafs made it to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Vancouver Canucks in 5 games. He was traded close to the NHL trading deadline three times in his career, and had a knack for producing immediately for those teams, as in a combined 35 games with his new teams during the regular season after the mid-season deals, he had 24 goals, 18 assists, 42 points, and a +16 rating.

Gartner was noted for his consistency during his career, as he led his team in goals nine times during his career and scored 30 or more goals each year for the first 15 seasons of his NHL career, since tied by Jaromír Jágr in 2007. Despite only once scoring 50 goals in a single season, Gartner became only the fifth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals (subsequently, Brett Hull and Jágr have also achieved the 700 goal milestone).

Gartner was also known for his blazing on-ice speed and ability to beat defenders down the ice.

The Washington Capitals retired Gartner's #11 in a ceremony before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 28, 2008.

During the 1996 Super Skills competition, Gartner had set the record for the fastest skater event with a time of 13.386.(Full course standing start) The record stood for 20 years until Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings broke it with a skating/running start 2016. In the 2017 All-Star Game, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers set a time of 13.310 beating Gartner (standing start) but not Larkin (running start).

Awards and achievements

Records

Personal life

Gartner and his wife Colleen have two sons, Joshua and Dylan, and a daughter Natalie. They reside in Shanty Bay, Ontario.