Gary Sargent

Gary Alan Sargent (born February 18, 1954 in Red Lake, Minnesota and raised in Bemidji, Minnesota) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played 402 games in the National Hockey League between 1975–1983. A first team all-star and league MVP at Bemidji State University, his professional hockey career was cut short by injuries.

For the 1970s footballer, see Gary Sargent (footballer).
Gary Sargent
Born (1954-02-18) February 18, 1954
Red Lake, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position defence
Played for Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota North Stars
NHL Draft 48th overall, 1974
Los Angeles Kings
WHA Draft 179th overall, 1974
Indianapolis Racers
Playing career 1974–1983

Early life

A member of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) nation, he was born on a reservation. Sargent was also a highly promising high school baseball and gridiron football player, receiving an offer to sign a professional contract with the Major League Baseball Minnesota Twins as well as several college football scholarship offers. However, Sargent decided to pursue a career in hockey instead; his distant cousin Henry Boucha[1] and later his first cousin T. J. Oshie[2] also played in the NHL, while his younger brother Earl Sargent is a former NHL draft choice who played minor league hockey.

Pro career

Sargent was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings with the 48th pick in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft and joined the Kings in 1975 after excelling for the United States national hockey team in the 1973 Ice Hockey World Championship and 1974 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships tournament, where he was voted most valuable defenseman. He was named the Kings outstanding newcomer after his rookie year. He was also a member of the US team at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup tournament and was voted the Kings defenseman of the year in 1976-77. In the 1977–78 season, Sargent tallied 54 points, had a plus/minus of plus 18 on a team that was minus 2 for the season. However, the Kings failed to re-sign Sargent and he became a free agent.

In the summer of 1978, Sargent signed with his native Minnesota North Stars as a restricted free agent when his contract with the Kings ended. Minnesota had to give up three players to Los Angeles (Rick Hampton, Steve Jensen and Dave Gardner) as compensation, but Sargent quickly became one of his new team's most important defensemen in 1978–79, being on ice for a league-record 53.1 percent of his team's goals that season. Sargent was selected for the 1980 NHL All Star game (in Los Angeles) but was unable to participate due to persistent back and knee problems which eventually forced him to retire prematurely in 1983 after missing most of the previous three seasons.

Post career

Sargent returned to the Los Angeles Kings after retiring as a player. He worked as a talent scout for them in 1986–1988.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1970–71 Bemidji High School HS-MN
1971–72 Bemidji High School HS-MN 51 — — — — —
1972–73 Bemidji State University NCAA III 30 23 24 47 30 — — — — —
1973–74 Fargo-Moorhead Sugar Kings MJHL 47 37 46 83 78 — — — — —
1974–75 Springfield Indians AHL 27 7 17 24 46 — — — — —
1975–76 Los Angeles Kings NHL 63 8 16 24 36 — — — — —
1976–77 Los Angeles Kings NHL 80 14 40 54 65 9 3 4 7 6
1977–78 Los Angeles Kings NHL 72 7 34 41 52 2 0 0 0 0
1978–79 Minnesota North Stars NHL 79 12 32 44 39 — — — — —
1979–80 Minnesota North Stars NHL 52 13 21 34 22 4 1 2 3 2
1980–81 Minnesota North Stars NHL 23 4 7 11 36 — — — — —
1981–82 Minnesota North Stars NHL 15 0 5 5 18 — — — — —
1982–83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 18 3 6 9 5 5 0 2 2 0
NHL totals 402 61 161 222 273 20 5 7 12 8

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1973 United States WC B 7 1 4 5 0
1974 United States WJC 3 0 2 2 0
1976 United States CC 5 0 0 0 2

References
  1. "Hockey: Former North Star Boucha's new book details highs,..." West Central Tribune. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  2. Billups, Andrea (15 February 2014). "T.J. Oshie: Five Things to Know About the U.S. Hockey Star". PEOPLE.com. People. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
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