Posts by Day: Friday, October 31, 2008

Mike Gartner was born in Ontario, Canada on October 29th, 1959. In starting his professional career, he began playing in the World Hockey Association with the Cincinnati Stingers. After which, in the 1979 first round of the NHL draft, he was selected by the Washington Capitals. He established himself through 19 action-packed National Hockey League seasons as a model of consistency. He was able to win the Capitals’ Rookie of the Year award, along with the MVP award for the season of 1979-1980. He scored 708 goals and added 627 assists for 1,335 points in 1,432 regular season games. Seven appearances in NHL All-Star Games attest to Gartner's status within the game. As a result of his long career, including his ten years (1979–1989) with the Washington Capitals, he was one of the first four former Capitals players to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

The 1976-1977 season saw the team more than match the victories in its first two seasons combined. Their regular season record stood at 24-42-14, but the following year saw them take a step backwards. They turned a corner when Danny Belise took over as coach in the 1978-1979 season. The young team registered its best season up to that point, finishing with 63 points. Belise, though, had a contrastingly bad start the following season. A 26 year-old Junior A coach from Peterborough, Ontario was hired. Gary Green was the youngest coach in NHL history and led the Capitals to end the season with 77 points. In later seasons, the team began to build a core of young players including Ryan Walter and Mike Gartner.