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Arizona Coyotes Throwback: Getting To Know Mike Gartner

By William Grigsby

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Looking back: Mike Gartner and the beginning of the era in Phoenix

Mike Gartner played for the Phoenix Coyotes for two seasons ’96-’97, ’97-’98, before retiring in August of 1998.

To read his NHL resume, one must be impressed:

  • NHL record for most consecutive 30-goal seasons (15; also tied with Jaromir Jagr)
  • NHL record for most 30-goal seasons (17)
  • NHL record for most goals in an All-Star Game (1993 Games, 4 goals) (shared with Wayne Gretzky, Dany Heatley and others)
  • NHL record for fastest two goals from the start of an All-Star Game (1993 Games, both goals in the first 3:37)
  • NHL Skills Competition record fastest time (1996) – 13.386 seconds__Washington Capitals record for longest point-streak – 17 games (twice)
  • Washington Capitals record for longest goal-scoring-streak (1986–87) – 9 games (shares record)
  • Washington Capitals record for most shorthanded goals in a season (1986–87) – 6 (shares record)
  • Washington Capitals record most points by a right winger in one season (1984–85) – 102

Playing 19 seasons in the NHL is quite a feat. Playing that long, while excelling with numbers like these.. well, the word  AMAZING  comes to mind:

  • 708 Goals– .49 per game including 199 power play goals- that’s at a 28% clip. 7th highest career scorer, 10th highest career power play goal scorer.
  • 1,027 Assists– .44 per game
  • 1,335 Points– .93 per game
  • 7 All-Star Game appearances, including the one in 1996, his first season with the Coyotes

Gartner was traded to the Arizona Coyotes by the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 22, 1996 — but his numbers even in those final two seasons were impressive in their own right:

  • 44 Goals– .31 per game including 15 power play goals- that’s at a 34% clip
  •  46 Assists– .32 per game

Mike Gartner will always be remembered for his exceptional speed and his flawless, powerful technical form.

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    • He had a great stride with really deep knee bends; his legs pumped like pistons, making him one of the fastest skaters of his time.

    A concerted defensive player as well, Gartner teamed really well with Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson in the Canada Cup — he had the speed to keep up with Soviet superstars Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.

    Gartner used his speed to create offense, much like current day Coyotes speedsters Tobias Rieder and Mikkel Boedker use their speed. There have been a lot of incredibly fast skaters in the NHL, but very few who could handle the puck and make plays in top gear like Gartner could — as the game has made a shift towards a need for fast on-ice presence, Gartner could be considered one of the skaters who led the way.

    He had a nice play where he’d bounce the puck off the nearby boards, then speed around a flatfooted defenseman — as if he was passing to himself. We’ve seen Rieder do this for Arizona, but if you want a really good example of this — just check out Patrick Kane. Plays like this make the opposition look silly.

    He would try driving to the net to unleash a deadly accurate wrist shot or an absolute cannon of a slap shot. If he couldn’t get around the defenseman, Gartner would typically zip around the net and try a wrap around attempt.

    Gartner wasn’t much of a playmaker, though he did score 627 career assists, and he wasn’t an overly physical player — but he definitely wasn’t afraid to play in traffic and drive to the net. Another player who has taken a leaf out of Garner’s book? Chris Kreider — if you’re a New York Rangers fan, you see this kind of offensive determination almost too often.

    He accumulated 1159 penalty minutes in his career, so he was tough as well as effective. He was skilled at protecting the puck from the opposition even at such high speeds. Not a body cruncher, Gartner would finish his checks usually by rubbing players out along the wall.

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