| Danny Gare | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1954-05-14)May 14, 1954 (age 71) Nelson, British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Right wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Buffalo Sabres Detroit Red Wings Edmonton Oilers | ||
| National team |  Canada | ||
| NHL draft | 29th overall,1974 Buffalo Sabres | ||
| WHA draft | 36th overall,1974 Winnipeg Jets | ||
| Playing career | 1974–1987 | ||
Daniel Mirl Gare (born May 14, 1954) is aCanadian broadcaster,ice hockey coach and formerNational Hockey League (NHL) player, most notably of theBuffalo Sabres. During a 13-year professional career, Gare also played for theDetroit Red Wings andEdmonton Oilers. He was a two-timeAll-Starright winger who twice scored 50 goals in a season for the Sabres. He was known for his quick wrist shot and status as a small, yet scrappy and fearless player.[citation needed]
Gare played for theWCJHL'sCalgary Centennials from 1971 to 1974. In his final season with the team, he had 127 points. Gare was selected by the Buffalo Sabres with the 29th pick of the1974 NHL amateur draft.
Gare, who wore #18, scored his first career NHL goal just 18 seconds into his first regular season game[1] helping the Sabres defeat the Boston Bruins, 9–5, on October 10, 1974.[2]
In his rookie season of 1974–75, he had 62 points in the regular season and 13 points in the playoffs, as Buffalo went to the Stanley Cup finals. The following year, Gare had 50 goals and 73 points. He had 77 points in 1977–78. In 1979–80, he tied for the league lead with 56 goals and had a career-high 89 points. He then had 85 points the following season.
Because of his goal scoring prowess he played right wing on the power play even duringThe French Connection years, which pushedRené Robert back to the point. He holds team records for most goals by a right winger (267), most game-tying goals (21), and fastest goal scored from start of NHL career (0:18 into his debut versus theBoston Bruins on 10 October 1974).[3]
On December 2, 1981, Gare, along withJim Schoenfeld andDerek Smith were traded to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange forMike Foligno,Dale McCourt andBrent Peterson.[4] Sabres goalie Bob Sauve was dealt to the Red Wings in a separate transaction.[5] Gare finished his career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1986–87.[6]
Gare served as the Sabres captain from the 1977–78 season through his trade to Detroit.[7] He was the Red Wings captain for four seasons from 1982 through 1986.[8]
Following his playing career, Gare was briefly an assistant coach and TV color analyst[9] for theTampa Bay Lightning, and served on theBuffalo Sabres broadcast team onEmpire Sports Network. He served as color analyst for theColumbus Blue Jackets underFSN Ohio from 2006 until April 2009.[10] He also served as an interim studio analyst for the Sabres whenMike Robitaille has been unavailable and did color commentary for games thatHarry Neale was unable to work.[11] He was appointed the alternate Sabres color analyst and paired withKevin Sylvester in an effort to reduce the workload of longtime Sabres broadcasterRick Jeanneret.
Gare was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 1994. On November 22, 2005, Gare had his number 18 jersey retired by the Sabres. He is the fifth player of seven totalso honored.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1971–72 | Calgary Centennials | WCHL | 56 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1972–73 | Calgary Centennials | WCHL | 65 | 45 | 43 | 88 | 107 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 | ||
| 1973–74 | Calgary Centennials | WCHL | 65 | 68 | 59 | 127 | 238 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 53 | ||
| 1974–75 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 78 | 31 | 31 | 62 | 75 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 19 | ||
| 1975–76 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 79 | 50 | 23 | 73 | 129 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 21 | ||
| 1976–77 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 35 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 73 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 1977–78 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 69 | 39 | 38 | 77 | 95 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 37 | ||
| 1978–79 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 71 | 27 | 40 | 67 | 90 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 1979–80 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 76 | 56 | 33 | 89 | 90 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 35 | ||
| 1980–81 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 73 | 46 | 39 | 85 | 109 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 1981–82 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 22 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 36 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 79 | 26 | 35 | 61 | 107 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 63 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 147 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 38 | ||
| 1984–85 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 71 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 163 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 1985–86 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 57 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 18 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 827 | 354 | 331 | 685 | 1,285 | 64 | 25 | 21 | 46 | 195 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Canada | CC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1981 | Canada | CC | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | |
| Senior totals | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | |||
| Preceded by | Buffalo Sabres captain 1977–81 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | NHL Goal Leader 1980 (tied withCharlie Simmer andBlaine Stoughton) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Detroit Red Wings captain 1982–86 | Succeeded by |