Gary George Inness (May 28, 1949 – February 23, 2021) was a Canadian professional

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

and teacher. He played 162 games 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 ...

with the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

, and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

between 1973 and 1981, and 63 games in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

with the

Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season. They played at Market Square ...

from 1977 to 1978.

Playing career

Gary Inness took an unusual route to the NHL. After playing Junior B with the Weston Dodgers, Inness then went to

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

in Ontario for 4 years, playing both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a

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 ...

and hockey for his university team. Inness then played one year with the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, winning the CIAU championship while completing his teacher's certificate. Inness never had aspirations of playing in the

(NHL), instead thinking he would be a teacher in Ontario. However, the

invited him to training camp, and Inness signed as a free agent with them in 1973. Inness played for parts of almost three seasons in Pittsburgh before he was traded to the

. After his stint with the Flyers, he played for two seasons in the

(WHA) with the

, playing with a 17-year-old

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

. When the Racers folded in December 1978, he returned to the NHL by signing with the

, with whom he played for parts of three seasons before retiring at the end of the

1980–81 NHL season The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. The Flames relocated from Atlanta to Calgary. The New York Islanders were the top regular season team and the top playoff team, winning their second consecutive Stanley ...

. Upon retiring from NHL play, Inness happened to be in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...

, when

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

coach Bryan Murray was promoted to coach the parent Washington Capitals. Being in the right place at the right time, Inness was hired to coach the Bears until being replaced midway through the 1984-85 AHL season.

Post-hockey career

Inness worked as a teacher and then a guidance counselor at

Barrie North Collegiate Institute Barrie North Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school (grades 9–12) located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1957 as part of the Simcoe County District School Board in southern Ontario. The principal is Kim Hand. Barri ...

up until early 2010, after which he retired. He was well known for his involvement with coaching in the school and remained an important part of its history. He died on February 23, 2021, from complications of dementia.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inness, Gary 1949 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Hershey Bears coaches Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Toronto Indianapolis Racers players Philadelphia Flyers players Pittsburgh Penguins players Toronto Varsity Blues ice hockey players Undrafted National Hockey League players Washington Capitals players