Gary Gait
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| Born | April 5, 1967, Victoria, British Columbia, CA |
| Position | midfield |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Former WLA Team | Victoria Shamrocks |
| Former NLL Teams | Detroit Turbos Philadelphia Wings Baltimore Thunder Pittsburgh CrosseFire Washington Power Colorado Mammoth |
| Former MLL Teams | Long Island Lizards Baltimore Bayhawks |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Pro Career | 1991 – 2005 |
| Shoots | Left/Right |
Gary C. Gait (b. April 5, 1967 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a retired professional lacrosse player, and currently head coach of the Colorado Mammoth. He is a member of the United States Lacrosse National Hall of Fame and the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame, and is widely regarded as the best lacrosse player of all time.[1][2][3][4] In a fairytale finish to his playing career earned him every possible major lacrosse title, he scored four goals in the last quarter of Canada's historic 15-10 victory over the United States in the final of the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, his last ever game.
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[edit] College career
Gait and his twin brother Paul both attended Syracuse University and played in the NCAA, setting many records during their time there. Gary was a four-time All-American at Syracuse. He graduated as the Orangemen’s all-time goal leader with 192. He led the team to three Division I Championships. He was NCAA Player of the Year in both 1988 and 1990 and was Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament in 1990. Gait was also widely known for his acrobatic "Air Gait," where he would jump over the crease from behind the goal, scoring while in mid-air, and then successfully landing on the opposite side of the crease.
[edit] NLL career
Gary started playing in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (later the National Lacrosse League) in 1991 and won the Rookie of the Year Award. In April 2005 he announced his retirement; he played his last game on April 22, 2005.
In the opening game of the 2006 NLL season on December 30, 2005, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, the Colorado Mammoth raised Gary's jersey number (22) to the rafters as the first retired jersey in NLL history.
In 2006, both Gary and his brother were among the 5 charter members to be voted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame.
[edit] Records and awards
Gait set many NLL scoring records during his career. He still holds the records for most goals in a single season (61 in 2003) and most career goals (596).
Gait was named league MVP six times, including five consecutive seasons. Other than Gary Gait, only John Tavares (3 times) has ever won the award more than once.
He was also given the NLL Sportsmanship Award twice, in 2004 (tie with Peter Lough) and 2005.
NLL Weekly and Monthly Awards:
- Player of the Week (1994-2001) 7 times
- Overall Player of the Week (2002-) 6 times
- Offensive Player of the Week (2002-) 3 times
- Player of the Month 6 times
[edit] MLL career
Gary has also played in Major League Lacrosse since its inception in 2001. He was a member of the Long Island Lizards. After the first season, Gary was traded to the Baltimore Bayhawks where he has served as a player-coach for the next four years. In 2005, Gary won the Steinfeld Cup as a player-coach. He scored six goals in the Championship Game and was named MVP of that game as well as the season.
[edit] WLA career
Gait, along with his brother, had great seasons with the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association. Gary won the MVP of the Mann Cup as a Shamrock in 1997, and was co-MVP of the Cup with Paul Gait in 1999.
[edit] International lacrosse career
1990 - Member of Team Canada, finalists in the World Lacrosse Championship
1994 - Member of Team Canada, 3rd place at the World Lacrosse Championship
1998 - Member of Team Canada, finalists in the World Lacrosse Championship
2002 - Member of Team Canada, finalists in the Heritage Cup and World Lacrosse Championship
2004 - Member of Team Canada, winners of the Heritage Cup
2006 - Member of Team Canada, winners of the World Lacrosse Championship
[edit] Statistics
[edit] International
| World Lacrosse Championship | Heritage Cup | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | |||||
| 2002 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Canada | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||
| 2006 | Canada | 8 | 21 | 5 | 26 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
[edit] Major League Lacrosse
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | 2ptG | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | 2ptG | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 2001 | Long Island | 14 | 30 | 0 | 8 | 38 | 0.5 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 0.5 | ||
| 2002 | Baltimore | 12 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 2.0 | 29 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0.0 | ||
| 2003 | Baltimore | 11 | 30 | 0 | 13 | 43 | 22 | 2.0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | ||
| 2004 | Baltimore | 12 | 32 | 1 | 14 | 47 | 21 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | ||
| 2005 | Baltimore | 12 | 42 | 0 | 21 | 63 | 28 | 0.0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0.0 | ||
| MLL Totals | 61 | 159 | 1 | 62 | 222 | 133 | 5.0 | 9 | 27 | 0 | 8 | 35 | 24 | 0.5 | |||
[edit] National Lacrosse League
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM | ||
| 1991 | Detroit | 10 | 32 | 36 | 68 | 67 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Detroit | 8 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 51 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1993 | Philadelphia | 8 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 68 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 1994 | Philadelphia | 7 | 16 | 17 | 33 | 38 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 2 | ||
| 1995 | Philadelphia | 8 | 30 | 18 | 48 | 58 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | Philadelphia | 10 | 43 | 22 | 65 | 74 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 1997 | Philadelphia | 10 | 40 | 32 | 72 | 65 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1998 | Baltimore | 12 | 57 | 28 | 85 | 64 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 26 | 0 | ||
| 1999 | Baltimore | 11 | 50 | 32 | 82 | 60 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2000 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 38 | 45 | 83 | 63 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001 | Washington | 14 | 43 | 47 | 90 | 82 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 2002 | Washington | 16 | 50 | 62 | 112 | 120 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2003 | Colorado | 16 | 61 | 35 | 96 | 105 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Colorado | 16 | 55 | 38 | 93 | 80 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2005 | Colorado | 16 | 33 | 48 | 81 | 81 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 0 | ||
| NLL Totals | 174 | 596 | 495 | 1091 | 1076 | 104 | 22 | 66 | 56 | 122 | 121 | 12 | |||
[edit] Awards
| Preceded by Paul Gait |
NLL MVP 2003 |
Succeeded by Jim Veltman |
| Preceded by John Tavares |
NLL MVP 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 |
Succeeded by John Tavares |
| Preceded by Chris Driscoll |
NLL Sportsmanship Award 2004 (tie with Peter Lough), 2005 |
Succeeded by Sean Greenhalgh |
| Preceded by none |
NLL Rookie of the Year 1991 |
Succeeded by Derek Keenan |
| Preceded by Scott Urick |
Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game MVP 2003 |
Succeeded by Michael Powell |
| Preceded by Conor Gill |
Major League Lacrosse MVP (with Mark Millon) 2005 |
Succeeded by Ryan Powell |
| Preceded by Brian Voelker |
Head Coach of the Baltimore Bayhawks 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
Succeeded by Scott Hiller |
| Preceded by Greg Cattrano |
Major League Lacrosse Championship Game MVP 2005 |
Succeeded by Roy Colsey |
[edit] References
- ^ Lacrosse legend retires as 'Jordan of sport'. MSNBC.com (April 17, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Interview with John Grant, Jr.. Lacrosse - Inside the Game (February 26, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Gary Gait HOF Biography. US Lacrosse. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Lacrosse Legends. SportsLearner.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gait, Gary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Retired lacrosse player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1967 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Victoria, British Columbia |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Categories: 1967 births | British Columbia sportspeople | Canadian lacrosse players | Living people | Major League Lacrosse players | National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame | Retired National Lacrosse League players | Philadelphia Wings players | Colorado Mammoth players | Player-coaches | People from Victoria, British Columbia | National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees
