Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a Canadian former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played 16 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

from

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

until

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Early life

Unger was born on December 7, 1947,

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, to parents Olive and Jack. His younger sister, Carol Ann, contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

as a baby and became permanently disabled.

Playing career

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: the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

. Unger passed

Andy Hebenton Andrew Alexander "Spuds" Hebenton (October 3, 1929 – January 29, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger. At the time of his retirement, he held the record for the longest streak without missing a game in professional hockey hi ...

, who had the record of 630 consecutive games played that had stood since the 1963-64 NHL season. Unger's streak came to an end after Flames' coach

Al MacNeil Allister Wences MacNeil (September 27, 1935 – January 5, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. MacNeil played 524 games in the National Hockey League and was a four-time Stanley Cup winner. He was the first ...

benched him on December 21, 1979. He was part of a six-player blockbuster transaction in which he was traded along with

Frank Mahovlich Francis William Mahovlich (born January 10, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a former Liberal Senator in the Canadian Senate. He played on six Stanley Cup-winning teams and is an inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame ...

and Pete Stemkowski to the

in exchange for

Norm Ullman Norman Victor Alexander Ullman (born December 26, 1935) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward (ice hockey), forward. He previously played for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975, an ...

Paul Henderson Paul Garnet Henderson (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flame ...

and

Floyd Smith Floyd Smith may refer to: * Floyd Smith (ice hockey) (born 1935), Canadian ice hockey centre and coach * Floyd E. Smith (1912–1989), American labor union leader *Floyd Smith (musician) (1917–1982), American jazz guitarist and record producer ...

on March 4, 1968. 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. 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 the Peterborough Pirates, playing in only 30 games, he racked up 95 goals and well over 200 points.

Personal life

Unger became a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

following the death of teammate Bob Gassoff. He also credited his Flames teammates for helping him "on the right path spiritually." Unger and his wife and three children together.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Garry 1947 births Living people Atlanta Flames players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian Christians Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian Mennonites Canadian sports announcers Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers announcers Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from Calgary London Nationals players Los Angeles Kings players Moncton Alpines (AHL) players National Hockey League broadcasters Rochester Americans players St. Louis Blues players Toronto Maple Leafs players