Height: 5-10
Weight: 175
Catch: L
Born: 8 Oct 1942, Lachine PQ (d. 2006)
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Regular Season Goaltending Record (key)
| year | team | ||||||||
| 1972-73 | Los Angeles | ||||||||
| 1973-74 | Los Angeles | ||||||||
| Vancouver | |||||||||
| Totals (2 teams) | |||||||||
| Totals: |
Playoff Goaltending Record
| year | team | ||||||||
| 1973 | Los Angeles | ||||||||
| Totals: |
Shutouts
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Score | Saves |
| Mar 17, 1973 | Cleveland | Away | 2-0 | 27 |
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Who Was That Masked Man? • by Walt Marlow • The Hockey Spectator • April 6, 1973
The day of the maskless goaltender has all but vanished. Only Joe Daley of the Winnipeg Jets and Andy Brown of the Pittsburgh Penguins rank among the major leaguers recognizable without a number. Both have been around long enough to know better but who is to say they're wrong? Obviously they feel that the mask interferes with peak efficiency. George Edward Gardner of the Los Angeles Sharks never thought he'd wear a mask but after countless cuts, a depressed skull and many, many nightmares, he took a long hard look at his face in the mirror one night five years ago and decided he liked it. The thought of further rearrangement of his profile appalled him. He wasn't getting much sleep either. "I'd wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat," recalled Gardner. "I'd see my teeth floating in a pool of blood, my eyes splattered on the wall, it was terrifying." George's testimonial for the mask was illustrated earlier this month in St. Paul when he took a slap shot in the eye. "It cracked the mask," said George, pointing to a spot on the protective plastic. "The crack resulted in seven stitches in my mid eyelid. Without this little lifesaver, I would have lost an eye, maybe my life." Gardner, by the nature of his occupation, is of the nervous variety. His postgame routine rarely varies. A visitor to the Sharks dressing quarters will encounter the amiable Gardner occupying a stool in the hallway outside the main dressing room. He'll have a Coke in one hand and a cigarette in the other, gazing at you with those doberman-like eyes, thankful he has survived another night in the nets. Many goaltenders resent intrusion, particularly if the evening has been unrewarding. Not Gardner. He will replay each goal and each save for you in detail. He'll readily confess to his own inadequacies, making no apologies for his performance. "I do the best I can," he'll tell you. "There are good nights and bad nights. Sometimes they blame the goaltender but how many people out there make a living stopping a puck traveling at 100 miles an hour?" It's like the fan who sits in the stands and yells that at a certain player lacks guts. Who's he kidding? The mere fact that a man shows up to play this game is undeniable evidence of his courage. Hockey players are a breed apart from all other athletes and the goaltender is another breed within that breed. The Spanish will tell you that the matador is the epitome of courage. Did he ever stop a Bobby hull slap shot? Gardner says the fear of playing goal is not that you'll get hurt, but that you'll give up six or seven goals and look like an idiot. "Sure you worry about the slapshots and the deflections," admits Gardner. "But it's no picnic for the defense either. Those shots from the point can be more damaging to a defenseman than to me. He doesn't have all the padding I have." Where would George play if he had to do it over again? "I suppose I'd still be a goaltender," he smiles. "Who in the hell wants to go into a corner and take those elbows and butt-ends in the mouth? There aren't any easy positions in this business." |
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