| Garry Unger | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1947-12-07)December 7, 1947 (age 77) | |||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | |||||||||||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||
| Shot | Left | |||||||||||||
| Played for | AHL Rochester Americans Moncton Alpines NHL Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings St. Louis Blues Atlanta Flames Los Angeles Kings Edmonton Oilers | |||||||||||||
| National team |  Canada | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1967–1988 | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a Canadian formerprofessionalice hockeycentre who played 16 seasons in theNational Hockey League from1967 until1983.
Unger was born on December 7, 1947,Calgary,Alberta, Canada,[1] to parents Olive and Jack.[2] His younger sister, Carol Ann, contractedpolio as a baby and became permanently disabled.[3][4]
Unger set an NHL record by playing 914 consecutive games in the regular season between February 24, 1968, and December 21, 1979, doing so with four teams: theToronto Maple Leafs,Detroit Red Wings,St. Louis Blues andAtlanta Flames.[5] Unger passedAndy Hebenton, who had the record of 630 consecutive games played that had stood since the1963-64 NHL season. Unger's streak came to an end after Flames' coachAl MacNeil benched him on December 21, 1979.[2][a]
He was part of a six-player blockbuster transaction in which he was traded along withFrank Mahovlich andPete Stemkowski to theDetroit Red Wings in exchange forNorm Ullman,Paul Henderson andFloyd Smith on March 4, 1968.[7]
Unger finished his career with 1105 career NHL games, scoring 413 goals and 391 assists for 804 points, and he also registered 1075 career penalty minutes.[5] Unger was the MVP of the 1974 NHL All-Star Game, played in Chicago. He had an assist and scored a shorthanded goal in the West Division's 6–4 victory over the East Division.
After retiring from the NHL he played for three seasons in the British professional league. During one season for thePeterborough Pirates, playing in only 30 games, he racked up 95 goals and well over 200 points.
Unger became a devoutChristian following the death of teammateBob Gassoff. He also credited his Flames teammates for helping him "on the right path spiritually."[8] Unger and his wife have three children together.[2]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1965–66 | Calgary Buffaloes | AJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966–67 | London Nationals | OHA | 48 | 38 | 35 | 73 | 60 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 27 | ||
| 1966–67 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1966–67 | Tulsa Oilers | CPHL | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | London Nationals | OHA | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Tulsa Oilers | CHL | 9 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 13 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 76 | 24 | 20 | 44 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 76 | 42 | 24 | 66 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1970–71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 51 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 28 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 41 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 20 | ||
| 1971–72 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 36 | 34 | 70 | 104 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 35 | ||
| 1972–73 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 41 | 39 | 80 | 119 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1973–74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 78 | 33 | 35 | 68 | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 36 | 44 | 80 | 123 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1975–76 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 39 | 44 | 83 | 95 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 1976–77 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 30 | 27 | 57 | 56 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1977–78 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 32 | 20 | 52 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 30 | 26 | 56 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 79 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1980–81 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 58 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1981–82 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 46 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 69 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | ||
| 1982–83 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982–83 | Moncton Alpines | AHL | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Dundee Rockets | BHL | 35 | 86 | 48 | 134 | 64 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 44 | ||
| 1986–87 | Peterborough Pirates | BHL-2 | 30 | 95 | 143 | 238 | 58 | 8 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 38 | ||
| 1987–88 | Peterborough Pirates | BHL | 32 | 37 | 44 | 81 | 116 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1,105 | 413 | 391 | 804 | 1,075 | 52 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 105 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Canada | WC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |
| 1979 | Canada | WC | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| Senior totals | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 42 | |||
| Preceded by | St. Louis Blues captain 1976–77 | Succeeded by Red Berenson |
