Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “, brought to you by Auto Logic, the Logical Choice.
I made an error.
Last week, Paul Hill and I were talking about ” Garrys “, specifically ” Garrys ” who spell their name with two ” r’s “.
My first reaction was Garry Unger, the former NHL’er who was traded by the Leafs to Detroit in the late 60’s as part of the Frank Mahovlich deal and later went on to establish an NHL record for consecutive games played.
From the time he left the Leafs to December 22, 1979, Unger played 914 straight games.
And here’s where I made the error.
I stated the streak ended when Atlanta coach Fred Creighton benched Unger, because back in the day, it was not an official ” game played ” unless your skates touched the ice surface during play.
I had the scenario right, Unger’s streak did end when he was planted on the bench, prevented by the coach from jumping over the boards at one point.
I had the coach wrong. It wasn’t Fred Creighton, but rather Al McNeil who halted Unger’s attempt to extend the streak by hopping the boards.
How many consecutive games would Unger have played if the rules today applied, where simply dressing qualifies as a game played ?
The bigger question for me is, based on Garry Unger’s rise to star status through the 70’s at St Louis, what if the Leafs never traded him in the first place ?
Could you imagine how many Stanley Cups Toronto would have had with a 1-2 punch of Sittler and Unger at centre.
I’m Fred Wallace