1970-71 O-Pee-Chee 26 Garry Unger Hockey Card (Front)
1970-71 O-Pee-Chee 26 Garry Unger Hockey Card (Back)
1970-71 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
Garry moved to the NHL right from Junior “A” Hockey and last season really came into his own by scoring 42 goals, more than he had scored in his two previous seasons – a tremendous stick-handler, Garry could easily be a future Art Ross Trophy winner.
En Français
Garry passa directeur du hockey Junior “A” à la LNH l’an passé, il compta 42 buts, deux fois plus que durant ses deux saisons précédentes. Très habile avec son bâton, Gerry pourrait très bien décrocher le Trophée Art Ross dnas un avenir rapproché.
Details
This counts as an uncorrected ERROR card. It seems O-Pee-Chee had difficulty with Unger’s first name and covered all the bases with three different versions. On the front and back of the card, it is wrongly spelled Gary. In the information snippet, in English they get it right, spelling it Garry. In the French version, they spell it right once but then call him Gerry in the final sentence.
The first statement is a bit of a false truth. In 1967-68, he played two games of junior hockey with the London Nationals, nine games with the Tulsa Oilers in the CPHL, five games with the Rochester Americans in the AHL, 15 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs and 13 more with the Detroit Red Wings. Not quite the direct path that was suggested.
The prediction of Garry Unger becoming an Art Ross Trophy winner did not come true. Unger topped out with 83 points as a member of the St. Louis Blues in 1975-76. A great season but still 42 points behind Art Ross winner Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens. His top season for goals came in 1972-73 when he scored 41 for the Blues.
Of course, Unger’s claim to fame was the 914 consecutive games he played between 1968 and 1979, a NHL record at the time. That record was not long after broke by Doug Jarvis and is now owned by Phil Kessel. Garry’s mark still stands as the fourth longest streak in NHL history.
Between 1967-68 and 1982-83, Garry Unger played in 1,105 regular season and 51 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blues, Atlanta Flames, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers.