Mike Gartner: 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 195

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 195 Mike Gartner Hockey Card (Front)

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee 195 Mike Gartner Hockey Card (Back)

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist

Card Notes

Finished 2nd in voting for WHA’s Rookie of the Year for 1978-79 season. A teammate of Ryan Walter in junior hockey before turning pro. Led Capitals in scoring, 1979-80.

Steve Atkinson scored Capitals 1st successful penalty shot 2-1-74.

En Français

Deuxième au scrutin de la Recrue de l’Année de l’AMH pour 1978-79. Coéquipier de Ryan Walter comme junior, avant de devenir professionnel. Meilleur compteur des Capitals pour 1979-80.

Le 1-2-74, Steve Atkinson devint le premier joueur des Capitals à marquer sur un lancer de punition.

Details

The 1978-79 winner of the Lou Kaplan Trophy as rookie of the year in the World Hockey Association, of course, went to Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers. Finishing second to The Great One is quite an honour.

The line about being a teammate of Ryan Walter in junior hockey is a bit deceiving. Mike Gartner played in the OHL with the St. Catharines Blackhawks and Niagara Falls Flyers while Walter played in the WHL with the Kamloops Chiefs and Seattle Breakers.

However, both Mike and Ryan were teammates with Team Canada at the 1978 World Juniors. The tournament was held in Montreal and Quebec City and Canada came out with a bronze. Both Gartner and Walter contributed eight points. That total was not good enough for the top ten with Wayne Gretzky leading the tournament with 17 points.

Gartner’s 36 goals and 68 points did lead the Washington Capitals in 1979-80. His 32 assists were down the list with Robert Picard leading the way with 43. Ryan Walter was second with 42.

Mike Gartner would play 1,432 regular season and 122 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1979-80 and 1997-98 with the Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Phoenix Coyotes.

Gartner is one of only eight players in NHL history to score more than 700 goals. His 708 place him in the eighth spot. Mike was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. His jersey #11 was retired by the Capitals in 2008.

Trivia Snippet

ERROR! The date is a year off. Steve Atkinson did score on a penalty shot but it was on February 1, 1975. The Capitals weren’t even in the NHL on February 1, 1974.

The game was on the road against the Vancouver Canucks at the Pacific Coliseum. At the time, Washington was shorthanded, killing off a hooking penalty on Mike Bloom. Atkinson was awarded the penalty shot at 12:57 of the second period and scored his eighth goal of the 1974-75 NHL season.

It didn’t help Washington’s luck. The Capitals could not win their 5th game of the year, instead dropping their 42nd loss 5-2. Ken Lockett was between the pipes for the Canucks.

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Mike Gartner NHL Career Stats

Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979-80	Washington Capitals	77	36	32	68	66
1980-81	Washington Capitals	80	48	46	94	100
1981-82	Washington Capitals	80	35	45	80	121
1982-83	Washington Capitals	73	38	38	76	54
1983-84	Washington Capitals	80	40	45	85	90
1984-85	Washington Capitals	80	50	52	102	71
1985-86	Washington Capitals	74	35	40	75	63
1986-87	Washington Capitals	78	41	32	73	61
1987-88	Washington Capitals	80	48	33	81	73
1988-89	Washington Capitals	56	26	29	55	71
1988-89	Minnesota North Stars	13	7	7	14	2
1989-90	Minnesota North Stars	67	34	36	70	32
1989-90	New York Rangers	12	11	5	16	6
1990-91	New York Rangers	79	49	20	69	53
1991-92	New York Rangers	76	40	41	81	55
1992-93	New York Rangers	84	45	23	68	59
1993-94	New York Rangers	71	28	24	52	58
1993-94	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	6	6	12	4
1994-95	Toronto Maple Leafs	38	12	8	20	6
1995-96	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	35	19	54	52
1996-97	Phoenix Coyotes	82	32	31	63	38
1997-98	Phoenix Coyotes	60	12	15	27	24
	Totals	1432	708	627	1335	1159

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979-80	Washington Capitals	0	0	0	0	0
1980-81	Washington Capitals	0	0	0	0	0
1981-82	Washington Capitals	0	0	0	0	0
1982-83	Washington Capitals	4	0	0	0	4
1983-84	Washington Capitals	8	3	7	10	16
1984-85	Washington Capitals	5	4	3	7	9
1985-86	Washington Capitals	9	2	10	12	4
1986-87	Washington Capitals	7	4	3	7	14
1987-88	Washington Capitals	14	3	4	7	14
1988-89	Washington Capitals	0	0	0	0	0
1988-89	Minnesota North Stars	5	0	0	0	6
1989-90	Minnesota North Stars	0	0	0	0	0
1989-90	New York Rangers	10	5	3	8	12
1990-91	New York Rangers	6	1	1	2	0
1991-92	New York Rangers	13	8	8	16	4
1992-93	New York Rangers	0	0	0	0	0
1993-94	New York Rangers	0	0	0	0	0
1993-94	Toronto Maple Leafs	18	5	6	11	14
1994-95	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	2	2	4	2
1995-96	Toronto Maple Leafs	6	4	1	5	4
1996-97	Phoenix Coyotes	7	1	2	3	4
1997-98	Phoenix Coyotes	5	1	0	1	18
	Totals	122	43	50	93	125