Joel Gardner is a Canadian retired ice hockey center who was an All-American for Colgate.
Career Gardner was recruited to Colgate University by assistant coach Brian Durocher and felt as home as soon as he walked on campus. He quickly became one of the top scorers for the Raiders but it was during his senior year that Gardner enshrined himself in Colgate lore. With stellar goaltending from Dave Gagnon, Gardner led the team in scoring and got the Raiders their first ever ECAC regular season title. Colgate then marched through the ECAC Tournament to capture their first conference championship. Colgate won three close games in the NCAA Tournament, producing their first 30-win season, and reached the program's first championship game. In the final game the team was blinded by the spotlight, according to head coach Terry Slater, and the Raiders made several mistakes that led to goals by Wisconsin. Gardner did his best, scoring a goal and an assist in the match, but the Badgers were too much and skated away with a 7–3 win.
After graduating Colgate University with a BA degree, Gardner began a long professional career which started with the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) in 1990. Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1986, Gardner became a free agent in 1990 and signed a 3-year contract and played within the Penguin's organization in the IHL and ECHL Leagues. Gardner plied his trade in Europe for most of the next four years. After returning home to North America in 1998 Gardner again started playing in the minor professional leagues for three years before retiring. After retiring as a professional player Gardner restarted his career in senior hockey, playing for the Petrolia Squires for parts of 6 seasons before hanging up his skates for good.
Gardner was inducted into the Colgate Hall of Honor in 2017.
Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 Colgate ECAC Hockey 3010203020————— 1987–88 Colgate ECAC Hockey 3114324624————— 1988–89 Colgate ECAC Hockey 3021254638————— 1989–90 Colgate ECAC Hockey 3826366262————— 1990–91 Muskegon Lumberjacks IHL 49913223020110 1991–92 Muskegon Lumberjacks IHL 51232————— 1991–92 Knoxville Cherokees ECHL 3620345430————— 1991–92 Michigan Falcons CoHL 31230————— 1992–93 Raleigh IceCaps ECHL 4522517330————— 1992–93 Chatham Wheels CoHL 14814222————— 1993–94 SC Herisau NLB 12381114————— 1993–94 Chatham Wheels CoHL 4230548450151282019 1994–95 ERC Selb 2nd Bundesliga 36493988101————— 1994–95 Detroit Falcons CoHL 21230123038 1995–96 EV Ravensburg 1st Liga 46718315422————— 1996–97 EV Ravensburg 1st Liga 4935569150————— 1997–98 ERC Haßfurt 1st Liga 10816244————— 1997–98 Port Huron Border Cats UHL 20510152————— 1997–98 Saginaw Lumber Kings UHL 4720365620————— 1998–99 Saginaw Gears UHL 30332————— 1998–99 Madison Monsters UHL 40220————— 1998–99 Mohawk Valley Prowlers UHL 4415355016————— 1998–99 Muskegon Fury UHL 7010100————— 1999–00 Muskegon Fury UHL 12145231120 1999–00 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. —————————— 2001–02 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 1310122219————— 2002–03 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 181121324————— 2003–04 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 191117286————— 2004–05 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 74480————— 2005–06 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 988166625710 2006–07 Petrolia Squires OHA-sr. 10002737108 NCAA totals 130 71 113 184 144 — — — — — IHL totals 54 10 15 25 32 2 0 1 1 0 ECHL totals 81 42 85 127 60 — — — — — CoHL totals 61 40 72 112 52 27 15 8 23 27 1st Liga totals 105 114 155 269 76 — — — — — UHL totals 137 41 100 141 42 3 1 1 2 0
Awards and honors Award Year All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1989–90 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1989–90 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team 1990 All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1990
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