Gary Sargent

For the English footballer who played during the 1970s, see Gary Sargent (English footballer)

Gary Alan Sargent (born February 18 1954 in Red Lake, Minnesota and raised in Bemidji) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played 402 games in the National Hockey League between 1975–1983. He was also drafted to play baseball and was an all American football player. Gary is of Native American descent (being a full blooded Chippewa), born and raised on a reservation in Minnesota. A first team all-star and league MVP at Bemidji State University, his professional hockey career was cut short by injuries.

Early life

A full-blooded Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indian, 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 numerous college football scholarship offers. However, Sargent decided to pursue a career in hockey instead -- his cousin Henry Boucha 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 championship tournament, where he was voted most valuable defenceman. His first season in Los Angeles was highly successful as he was named the team's outstanding newcomer that year. He was a member of the US team at the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup tournament and had another outstanding season with the Kings in 1976–77 when he was voted the team's defenseman of the year. In the 1977–78 season, Sargent had another stellar season. His he tallied 54 points, had a plus/minus of plus 18 on a team the was minus 2 for the season, and was the Kings' most steady and reilable defenceman. 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.

References

*hockeydb|4768
*legendsofhockey|14218
* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1974/74048.html Sargent's player profile at HockeyDraftCentral.com]