This Day in Hockey History – October 16, 1979 – Gartner Grows

Oct 16, 2019

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Mike Gartner was a speed demon with a hell of a shot. In mid-October, his shots resulted in important goals for his career. As a rookie, on October 16, 1979, he scored his first NHL goal with the Washington Capitals. Two days shy of its 12th anniversary, on October 14, 1991, he netted his 500th goal with the New York Rangers (in a game against the Capitals). He ended his career in 1998 with 708 regular-season goals.

Having turned pro at 18, Gartner signed with the Cincinnati Stingers in the final year of the WHA. When the leagues merged in 1979, the Washington Capitals drafted Gartner fourth overall. He played his first NHL game on October 11 and was credited with an assist. He went pointless during the next two games.

In his fourth NHL game and second game at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, Gartner scored his first of many NHL goals. Only 5,386 fans were in attendance to witness the moment. It ended up being a high-scoring night. When Gartner scored at 19:15 of the first period, it was the sixth goal of a game that ended 8-6 in favor of the Capitals over the Los Angeles Kings. All (but one) scorers for Washington tallied their first of the season, and three of their goals were during power plays.

The coaches of the two teams held opposing views on the reason for the high scores. Gartner’s coach, Danny Belisle commented, “I thought both goalies played well under the circumstances. It was a wide open game. It could have been 13-12 without the goalies. We really needed that one.” Whereas, Kings Coach Bob Berry claimed, “We didn’t get the kind of goal tending we’ve got to get if we’re going to be in the playoffs even. Let’s not kid ourselves, you can blame the defense and the forwards for not back-checking, but that’s not the case. We’ve got to get better goaltending if we’re going to be successful.”

For Gartner, it could not just be one goalie having a bad start to the season. His rookie season ended with 36 goals and 68 points, leading in both for his team. Gartner later said, “When I went there, hockey was in no way the number one sport. In fact, it wasn’t number two, three or four either! Yet, it was a great experience for me. I was given all sorts of opportunities to play, and because I was, I turned into a guy who could put the puck in the net.” He did that so well, he remained the Capitals’ leader in goals (397) and points (789).

Washington traded Gartner to the Minnesota North Stars in March 1989. Almost exactly a year later, Minnesota traded him to the Rangers. At the beginning of his second full season in New York, Gartner became the 16th NHLer to reach the 500-goal milestone. He was the first to tally his 500th in a Rangers uniform, and his was the first scored in that Madison Square Garden. (Gordie Howe had scored his 500th at the old Garden on March 14, 1962.)

Gartner did not wait long to score, beating Mike Liut only 3:27 into the game. During a Rangers penalty kill, Capitals defenseman Calle Johansson earned a trip to the penalty box when he tackled Darren Turcotte. The teams played four-on-four for 49 seconds until the Rangers had the advantage. According to the game recap, Mark Messier “accepted a cross-ice pass from James Patrick and steamed up the left side while Gartner sneaked up the right. The Capitals always use Rod Langway on their left defense when Gartner is on the ice … But Langway was late getting into the play when Messier flipped a pass over Iafrate’s stick. The puck and Gartner arrived at the goalmouth at the same instant, and Gartner drilled the puck from barely five feet to Liut’s left.” Gartner returned to his bench to be congratulated by his teammates.

Unfortunately, though Gartner’s goal started the night off right, the Rangers fell to the Capitals 5-3. His first team had beaten his current team, which had lost three in a row. However, the season turned into a good one for both Gartner and the Rangers. Having scored his 500th goal, Gartner became the first to also earn his 500th assist and 1000th point all in the same season. The Rangers went on to win the Presidents’ Trophy that year. Though they only played two rounds in the playoffs, Gartner led their scoring with 16 points.

In a case of terrible timing, Gartner was traded in March 1994, just before the Rangers finally won the Stanley Cup again. As he said later, “To be with the team for a number of years before that and see it build to that point and then get traded and watch that same team that I’d been playing with go on to win the Stanley Cup was obviously a tough thing to watch.” He went his entire career without a championship, but he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.