Playing career

Gartner was drafted in the 1st round, 4th overall, by the Washington Capitals in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He started his professional career playing in the WHA as an underager with the Cincinnati Stingers in 1978-79. He played on a line with Mark Messier and had a successful campaign, finishing second to Wayne Gretzky for Rookie-of-the-Year honors. As a result, with the WHA folding at the end of the season, he played the next season with the Capitals, and would play for them for the better part of ten seasons. He recorded an assist in his NHL debut on October 11, 1979, versus the Buffalo Sabres, and he wore number eleven for the Caps.

Gartner had a solid season in 1979-80, winning the Capitals' Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, as well as being voted by their fans as the team's Most Promising Player. He also led the team with 36 goals. Gartner was traded to the Minnesota North Stars on March 7, 1989, with Larry Murphy for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse. He left the Capitals as the team's all-time leader in career goals, assists and points, and currently stands second in those three categories.

However, Gartner only lasted one season with Minnesota and was traded to the New York Rangers on March 6, 1990, for Ulf Dahlén, a draft pick and future considerations. He had a strong start with the Rangers scoring two goals in his debut versus the Philadelphia Flyers. He scored eleven goals and sixteen points in the remaining twelve regular season games the Rangers played that year. In 1991-92, he became the first player in NHL history to score his 500th goal, 500th assist, and 1000th point all in the same season. The next season, Gartner became the first Ranger to score at least 40 goals in three consecutive seasons. He also scored four goals in the NHL All-Star Game and earned the All-Star Game MVP award.

In 1993-94, Gartner was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Glenn Anderson, a minor leaguer, and a draft pick. He played with the Leafs until 1996, when he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes, who had just re-located from Winnipeg. Gartner scored the first goal and hat trick in Phoenix history on October 7 against the Boston Bruins, in the franchise's second game since relocation. He played two seasons with the Coyotes before retiring in August 1998.

Gartner was also active with the NHL Players Association. He served as president of the NHLPA from 1996 until his retirement in 1998 and served as Chairman of the Goals & Dreams program with the NHLPA. He resigned from the NHLPA on March 19, 2007.

Gartner is a born-again Christian, and was introduced to the faith during his playing days by former Washington teammate Jean Pronovost. His son, Josh, played goalie for Yale University and right wing for the Tuck School of Business A-Team in the Upper Valley Hockey League.

Gartner and his former teammate, Wes Jarvis, are business partners and own three skating rinks in the Greater Toronto Area located in Newmarket, Ontario, Richmond Hill, Ontario, and Barrie, Ontario.

Distinction

Despite his long impressive career, Gartner never won the Stanley Cup or played in the Cup Finals, never won an NHL award, and was never named to the postseason All-Star Team, being one of the few NHL players with this distinction to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dino Ciccarelli has likewise never managed any of these accolades, although he made the Cup Finals twice. Only Phil Housley has played in more games (1495) than Gartner without winning the Cup, though Housley participated in the 1998 Cup Finals and has been named a Second Team All-Star.

Gartner was a member of the New York Rangers team that would go on to win the championship in 1994, but he was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline. However, Gartner got farther than he ever would in the playoffs that same year, as the Maple Leafs made it to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Vancouver Canucks in 5 games. He was traded close to the NHL trading deadline three times in his career, and had a knack for producing immediately for those teams, as in a combined 35 games with his new teams during the regular season after the mid-season deals, he had 24 goals, 18 assists, 42 points, and a +16 rating.

Gartner was noted for his consistency during his career, as he led his team in goals nine times during his career and scored 30 or more goals each year for the first 15 seasons of his NHL career, since tied by Jaromír Jágr in 2007. Despite only once scoring 50 goals in a single season, Gartner became only the fifth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals (subsequently, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr have also achieved the 700 goal milestone).

Gartner was also known for his blazing on-ice speed and ability to beat defenders down the ice.

The Washington Capitals retired Gartner's #11 in a ceremony before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 28, 2008.

During the 1996 Super Skills competition, Gartner previously set the record for the fastest skater event with a time of 13.386. The record stood for 20 years until Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings broke it in 2016 with a time of 13.172.

Awards and achievements

• Jersey number #11 retired by Washington Capitals December 28, 2008.
• One of only 7 players in NHL history to score 700 career goals.
• 2001 - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
• NHL's Player of the Week for the week ending February 22, 1987.
• NHL's Player of the Month for February, 1987, becoming first Capital to win the award.
• NHL's Player of the Week for the week ending November 26, 1989.
• NHL All-Star Game MVP (1993)
• NHL's Fastest Skater at All-Star Game Skills Competition in (1991, 1993 and 1996)
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game (1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1996)
• One of the three final WHA players still active in professional hockey (Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky being the last two) at the time of his retirement.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 89 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
• He scored the last goal ever at Chicago Stadium in the 1994 playoffs.
• He was ranked No. 67 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
• In 2012, he was inducted into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the “Legends of the Game” category.

Records

• 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) - 4
• NHL record for fastest two goals from the start of an All-Star Game (1993) - in 3:37
• Washington Capitals record for longest point-streak - 17 games
• Washington Capitals record for longest goal-scoring-streak (1986-87) - 9 games
• Washington Capitals record for most shorthanded goals in a season (1986-87) - 6
• Washington Capitals record most points by a right winger in one season (1984-85) - 102

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1975-76	St. Catharines Black Hawks	OMJHL		3	1	3	4	0		4	1	0	1	2
1976-77	Niagara Falls Flyers	OMJHL		62	33	42	75	125		—	—	—	—	—
1977-78	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA		64	41	49	90	56		—	—	—	—	—
1978-79	Cincinnati Stingers	WHA		78	27	25	52	123		3	0	2	2	2
1979-80	Washington Capitals	NHL		77	36	32	68	66		—	—	—	—	—
1980-81	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	48	46	94	100		—	—	—	—	—
1981-82	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	35	45	80	121		—	—	—	—	—
1982-83	Washington Capitals	NHL		73	38	38	76	54		4	0	0	0	4
1983-84	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	40	45	85	90		8	3	7	10	16
1984-85	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	50	52	102	71		5	4	3	7	9
1985-86	Washington Capitals	NHL		74	35	40	75	63		9	2	10	12	4
1986-87	Washington Capitals	NHL		78	41	32	73	61		7	4	3	7	14
1987-88	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	48	33	81	73		14	3	4	7	14
1988-89	Washington Capitals	NHL		56	26	29	55	71		—	—	—	—	—
1988-89	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		13	7	7	14	2		5	0	0	0	6
1989-90	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		67	34	36	70	32		—	—	—	—	—
1989-90	New York Rangers	NHL		12	11	5	16	6		10	5	3	8	12
1990-91	New York Rangers	NHL		79	49	20	69	53		6	1	1	2	0
1991-92	New York Rangers	NHL		76	40	41	81	55		13	8	8	16	4
1992-93	New York Rangers	NHL		84	45	23	68	59		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	New York Rangers	NHL		71	28	24	52	58		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		10	6	6	12	4		18	5	6	11	14
1994-95	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		38	12	8	20	6		5	2	2	4	2
1995-96	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		82	35	19	54	52		6	4	1	5	4
1996-97	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		82	32	31	63	38		7	1	2	3	4
1997-98	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		60	12	15	27	24		5	1	0	1	18
NHL totals				1432	708	627	1335	1159		122	43	50	93	125
OMJHL/OHA totals				129	75	94	169	181		4	1	0	1	2

International play

• Played for Team Canada in the 1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and won a bronze medal.
• Played for Team Canada in the 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1993 World Championships and won a bronze medal in 1982 and 1983.
• Played for Team Canada in the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cups, winning first place in both tournaments.

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1978	Team Canada	WJC	6	3	3	6	4
1981	Team Canada	WCh	8	4	0	4	8
1982	Team Canada	WC	10	3	2	5	6
1983	Team Canada	WC	10	4	1	5	12
1984	Team Canada	CC	8	3	2	5	10
1987	Team Canada	CC	9	2	2	4	6
1993	Team Canada	WCh	7	3	4	7	12
7 tournaments	Team Canada	Career	58	22	14	36	58

Personal life

Gartner and his wife Colleen have two sons, Joshua and Dylan, and a daughter Natalie. They reside in Shanty Bay, Ontario.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]