Garry Douglas Unger (born December 7, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 until 1983.

Early life Unger was born on December 7, 1947, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to parents Olive and Jack. His younger sister, Carol Ann, contracted polio as a baby and became permanently disabled.

Playing career

Unger set an NHL record by playing 914 consecutive games in the regular season between February 24, 1968, and December 21, 1979, doing so with four teams: the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Flames. Unger passed Andy Hebenton, who had the record of 630 consecutive games played that had stood since the 1963-64 NHL season. Unger's streak came to an end after team coach Al MacNeil benched him on December 21, 1979.

He was part of a six-player blockbuster transaction in which he was traded along with Frank Mahovlich and Pete Stemkowski to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith on March 4, 1968.

Unger finished his career with 1105 career NHL games, scoring 413 goals and 391 assists for 804 points, and he also registered 1075 career penalty minutes. Unger was the MVP of the 1974 NHL All-Star Game, played in Chicago. He had an assist and scored a shorthanded goal in the West Division's 6–4 victory over the East Division.

After retiring from the NHL Unger played for three seasons in the British professional league. The first season was with Tom Stewarts Dundee Rockets in 1985. During that season with the Rockets Garry played 41 games and scored 93 goals and made 54 assists. He then moved to newly relegated Peterborough Pirates and helped to get them promoted at the first time of asking, playing in 30 games that saw him score 95 goals and record over 100 assists on the way to over 200 points.

Personal life Unger became a devout Christian following the death of teammate Bob Gassoff. He also credited his Flames teammates for helping him "on the right path spiritually." Unger and his wife have three children together.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1965–66 Calgary Buffaloes AJHL — — — — — — — — — — 1966–67 London Nationals OHA 48 38 35 73 60 6 2 5 7 27 1966–67 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1966–67 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 2 2 0 2 2 — — — — — 1967–68 London Nationals OHA 2 4 1 5 2 — — — — — 1967–68 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 15 1 1 2 4 — — — — — 1967–68 Tulsa Oilers CHL 9 3 5 8 6 — — — — — 1967–68 Rochester Americans AHL 5 1 3 4 6 — — — — — 1967–68 Detroit Red Wings NHL 13 5 10 15 2 — — — — — 1968–69 Detroit Red Wings NHL 76 24 20 44 33 — — — — — 1969–70 Detroit Red Wings NHL 76 42 24 66 67 4 0 1 1 6 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings NHL 51 13 14 27 63 — — — — — 1970–71 St. Louis Blues NHL 28 15 14 29 41 6 3 2 5 20 1971–72 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 36 34 70 104 11 4 5 9 35 1972–73 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 41 39 80 119 5 1 2 3 2 1973–74 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 33 35 68 96 — — — — — 1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 36 44 80 123 2 1 3 4 6 1975–76 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 39 44 83 95 3 2 1 3 7 1976–77 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 30 27 57 56 4 0 1 1 2 1977–78 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 32 20 52 66 — — — — — 1978–79 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 30 26 56 44 — — — — — 1979–80 Atlanta Flames NHL 79 17 16 33 39 4 0 3 3 2 1980–81 Los Angeles Kings NHL 58 10 10 20 40 — — — — — 1980–81 Edmonton Oilers NHL 13 0 0 0 6 8 0 0 0 2 1981–82 Edmonton Oilers NHL 46 7 13 20 69 4 1 0 1 23 1982–83 Edmonton Oilers NHL 16 2 0 2 8 1 0 0 0 0 1982–83 Moncton Alpines AHL 8 2 3 5 0 — — — — — 1985–86 Dundee Rockets BHL 35 86 48 134 64 6 7 6 13 44 1986–87 Peterborough Pirates BHL-2 30 95 143 238 58 8 17 15 32 38 1987–88 Peterborough Pirates BHL 32 37 44 81 116 — — — — — NHL totals 1,105 413 391 804 1,075 52 12 18 30 105

International Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM 1978 Canada WC 10 0 0 0 30 1979 Canada WC 7 2 1 3 12 Senior totals 17 2 1 3 42

See also List of NHL players with 1,000 games played

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