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Link Gaetz

Link Gaetz
Gaetz in 2004
Born (1968-10-02) October 2, 1968 (age 56)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 260 lb (118 kg; 18 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota North Stars
San Jose Sharks
NHL draft 40th overall, 1988
Minnesota North Stars
Playing career 1988–2007

Link Gaetz (born October 2, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks.

NHL career

Gaetz was drafted in the second round, 40th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. According to then-North Stars general manager Lou Nanne, Gaetz was intended to provide on-ice protection for forward Mike Modano, Minnesota's No. 1 overall pick that year. Four months after being drafted by the North Stars, Gaetz was arrested and charged with drunk driving.[1] After 17 games over two seasons with Minnesota, Gaetz was taken by the San Jose Sharks in the 1991 Dispersal Draft. Despite not playing the full season, Gaetz left an impact with San Jose, as he remains the Sharks franchise all-time single season leader in penalty minutes with 326, which he set during their inaugural season. Gaetz was also known for dropping his gloves with several big name tough guys such as Bob Probert, Mike Peluso, Gino Odjick, and Kelly Buchberger

Accident

On April 2, 1992, at 10:00 am, Gaetz was thrown from the passenger seat of a car driven by a friend. The friend, later charged with driving under the influence, had lost control on an off-ramp at 80 mph. Gaetz arrived at the Peninsula Hospital with back and facial injuries, and was semi-comatose for eight days. His mother, Sonja Koskinen, flew down from Vancouver to hear doctors say her son might die. His brain stem had been injured, and Gaetz awoke with his left side partially paralyzed and no memory of the accident. He left the hospital after six weeks. Over the next two months, he worked with therapists to regain movement and speech, and he confounded doctors by returning to the ice late that summer, skating twice daily. Several months after he was released from hospital he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. On September 10, 1993, Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi traded the 23-year-old defenseman to the Edmonton Oilers for a tenth-round pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. From there, Gaetz never played another game in the NHL and found himself playing in a wide variety of cities and leagues all over Canada and the United States.[2] The Sharks used the tenth-round pick (240th overall) to draft Tomas Pisa, who never played a professional game.[3]

Minor leagues and appearances

Gaetz played in only 65 career NHL games, spread across three seasons, but he accumulated 412 penalty minutes while playing for the North Stars and Sharks.

Gaetz played on numerous teams, in numerous low-level pro leagues across North America, over a period of 15 years,[4] including time with the North American League (which folded after two games in the fall of 1995), Central Hockey League, Sunshine Hockey League, West Coast Hockey League, American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League, International Hockey League, Colonial Hockey League, Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League (renamed Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey during his final season), followed by a few games in the semi-professional Northern New Brunswick Senior AAA Hockey League and Canadian Elite Hockey League. He also spent some time in 1994 with Roller Hockey International playing eight games (1G, 3A, 4PTS, 46 PIM) for the Sacramento River Rats where he was kicked off the team for "beating up the trainer", in Gaetz's own recollection.

All told, Gaetz played 646 professional and semi-pro games and amassed 48 goals, 116 assists, 164 points -- and an incredible 4,030 penalty minutes, or over six per game.

Hamburger incident

While he was playing with the Thetford Mines Prolab of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) on March 13, 2005, in a game against the Verdun Dragons, Gaetz did not take a shift during the first or second periods. During the second intermission, Gaetz changed out of his jersey and skates and went out to the concession stand to buy a hamburger and "promptly ate it". Thetford Mines Prolab considered this disrespectful to the players, and suspended Gaetz for the remainder of the season.[5][6] The incident later earned Gaetz the reputation as one of the "quirkiest athletes in pro sports" in Canada.[7]

Battle of the Hockey Enforcers

Gaetz was one of three former NHL players to take part in the Battle of the Hockey Enforcers, a made-for-TV event held in July 2005 which featured enforcers from various minor leagues fighting on ice in full equipment as if they were in a game-time matchup.[8][9] Gaetz's opening matchup was against Sherbrooke St-Francois forward Steve Reid.[10] Gaetz went down twice in the opening round and did not participate past the opening fight due to "concussion-like symptoms".[citation needed]

Video games

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1985–86 Quesnel Millionaires PCJHL 15 0 7 7 4 — — — — —
1985–86 Abbotsford Falcons BCHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1986–87 Merritt Warriors BCHL 7 4 2 6 27 — — — — —
1986–87 Delta Flyers BCHL 16 5 10 15 26 — — — — —
1986–87 New Westminster Bruins WHL 44 2 7 9 52 — — — — —
1987–88 Spokane Chiefs WHL 59 9 20 29 313 10 2 2 4 70
1988–89 Minnesota North Stars NHL 12 0 2 2 53 — — — — —
1988–89 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 37 3 4 7 192 5 0 0 0 56
1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 5 0 0 0 33 — — — — —
1989–90 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 61 5 16 21 318 9 2 2 4 59
1990–91 Kalamazoo Wings IHL 9 0 1 1 44 — — — — —
1990–91 Kansas City Blades IHL 18 1 10 11 178 — — — — —
1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 48 6 6 12 326 — — — — —
1992–93 Kansas City Blades IHL 2 0 0 0 14 — — — — —
1992–93 Nashville Knights ECHL 3 1 0 1 10 — — — — —
1993–94 Cape Breton Oilers AHL 21 0 1 1 140 — — — — —
1993–94 Nashville Knights ECHL 24 1 1 2 261 — — — — —
1993–94 West Palm Beach Blaze SuHL 6 0 3 3 15 3 0 1 1 8
1994–95 San Antonio Iguanas CHL 13 0 3 3 156 — — — — —
1995–96 San Francisco Spiders IHL 3 0 0 0 37 — — — — —
1995–96 Mexico City Toreros MEX — — — — — — — — — —
1996–97 Madison Monsters CoHL 26 2 4 6 178 — — — — —
1997–98 Anchorage Aces WCHL 11 0 1 1 130 — — — — —
1997–98 Miramichi Leafs NMSHL — — — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Miramichi Leafs AC — — — — — 2 0 0 0 4
1998–99 Toledo Storm ECHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1999–00 Eston Ramblers WGHL 11 0 0 0 112 — — — — —
2001–02 Rivière-du-Loup Promutuel QSPHL 35 0 2 2 224 5 1 2 3 50
2002–03 Granby Prédateurs QSPHL 20 0 0 0 148 — — — — —
2002–03 Saguenay Paramédic QSPHL 15 2 1 3 104 4 0 0 0 36
2003–04 Rivière-du-Loup Promutuel QSPHL 16 0 1 1 194 — — — — —
2003–04 Trois-Rivières Vikings QSPHL 3 0 0 0 17 — — — — —
2003–04 Saint-Jean Mission QSPHL 13 1 0 1 99 12 0 1 1 51
2004–05 Thetford Mines Prolab LNAH 22 0 2 2 117 — — — — —
2004–05 Dawson Creek Canucks NPHL 3 0 0 0 16 — — — — —
2005–06 Saint John Scorpions CEHL 4 0 0 0 51 — — — — —
2006–07 Horse Lake Thunder NPHL 3 0 1 1 57 — — — — —
IHL totals 130 9 31 40 783 14 2 2 4 115
NHL totals 65 6 8 14 412 — — — — —

References

  1. ^ The Sports World's Quirkiest Athletes [1][usurped]
  2. ^ Urstadt, Bryant (10 July 2012). "The legend of Link". ESPN. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  3. ^ Tomas Pisa http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=29035
  4. ^ "The Legend of Link". www.geocities.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Link Gaetz Suspended for the Rest of the Season". theiceblock.com. 2005-03-21. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  6. ^ Jeff Z. Klein (2011-02-28). "Fighting to Stay in the Game". NewYorkTimes.com. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  7. ^ Quirkiest Athletes [2][usurped]
  8. ^ Russell, Gordon W. (2008-03-14). Aggression in the Sports World: A Social Psychological Perspective. ISBN 9780198040835.
  9. ^ Armstrong, Jane (27 August 2005). "Hockey Enforcers ready to rumble in B.C. - The Globe and Mail". The Globe and Mail.
  10. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Hockey Enforcers 2005 Link Geatz vs Steve Reid. YouTube.
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