"Iron Man" standing on solid Rock

A sucessful hockey career wasn't enough to satisfy "Iron Man" Garry Unger but a new life with Jesus Christ was.

    When he arrived at the Edmonton airport recently, a young boy recognized him and said; “You used to be Garry Unger!” Actually that’s who he’s always been but in a way the youngster was right, he used to be an admired star of the National Hockey League (NHL) but the person he was during much of his career is different from the man he is today.

    The difference is his person relationship with Jesus Christ.

    Those unfamiliar with Unger might expect to hear a “bad boy turns good after finding Jesus” story but Unger says he never was “one of those player involved in drugs or partying.”

    One hockey magazine however wrote a feature article about him in which he was labeled as a ‘carefree swinger more interested in girls and high living than in hockey,’ a claim which Unger denied at the time.

    “Just because I drove a sports car, dressed in some colorful clothes and dated a few good-looking girls (including the reigning Miss America) a few people thought I had to be a bad living guy who ran around all night,” Unger told Hockey World magazine in the December 1974 article.

    “I am a hockey player, first and foremost, and I do nothing to detract me from that,” he went on to say in the article.

    A few years later that attitude would change, once he became a Christian.

    Speaking in August at The Links Golf Course in Spruce Grove, Alberta, following “The Garry Unger Golf classic” ( a fund raiser for Athletes International Ministries) , he described himself during his playing days as a ‘happy guy’ to those who took part in the tournament, including both Christians and non-Christians, athletes and non-athletes.

    Unger was fortunate to enjoy a lengthy and productive 16-year career in the NHL, playing for several teams including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and the Atlanta Flames, before finally ending his career in 1983 playing for the Oilers in Edmonton, the city he was born and raised in.

    For several years he held the record for playing in the most consecutive games in a row without missing one earning him recognition as the “Iron Man,” a streak that today he gives his sister, who is five years younger and suffered from polio, credit for.

    “Back then it was difficult for me to complain about a sore ankle or leg when I knew that in two weeks it was going to fine, yet my sister was never going to be able to walk again,” he told those in attendance at the golf tournament. Unger says that it was also difficult for him to understand how someone with such a severe affliction “could be so peaceful and happy with her life despite the fact that she couldn’t walk.”

    He talked of how his sister was “heavily involved in the church” but that he wanted no part of it. After all, the church “was for girls and people who needed a crutch in life,” thought Unger. “I was a pretty cool guy and I was playing in the NHL. I didn’t need any help doing anything. Things came easy to me, including hockey.”

    Unger signed his first contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs when he was only 18 years old, back when there were only six teams in the NHL.

    He told those in the audience, including some up and coming hockey players that “hockey is a great life and a great way to make a living,” But each goal he set for himself he reached, and instead of feeling “totally happy” at reaching them, he found himself wanting something more, so he continued to set higher goals for himself.

    Maybe it was his focus on person goals that caused him to brush off a young fan who asked him in 1977, prior to going on the ice in a play off game against the Minnesota North Stars, if, “he knew were he going to spend eternity?”

    Unger said that he told the young fan; “Bug off, I've got a hockey game to play,” never stopping to give the question any consideration.

    Unfortunately only a month later he was forced to give it more thought after a close friend of his whom he described as “the toughest guy I ever played with,” died while riding a motorcycle on Unger's 200 acre farm.

    “Right away that question came back to me because it could have just as easily been me,” said Unger.

    “Even though I had everything I’d ever wanted at the time, I didn’t know the answer to that kid’s question.”

    He said that prior to his death, he thought his friend was “indestructible,”

“As time went on, I got totally set up in St. Louis (playing for the Blues), but I wanted to win the Stanley Cup, so asked to be traded in 1980. I ended up going to Atlanta to play for the Flames. When I got there, one of the guys, Eric Vail, said to me, ‘We’ve got a problem on this team. We’ve got a couple of strange guys, Christian guys, on it.’ That seemed strange coming from him since he had held the record for drinking 55 beers after a game one night.”     “Anyway for the first time in my life I decided not to take someone else’s word about what these ‘Christian guys’ were all about and to decide for myself.”     It turned out that Unger would become a roommate of one of the these ‘strange Christian guys;’ Paul Henderson, the hero of Canada’s famous hockey victory over Russia in 1972, scoring three consecutive game winning goals.     Unger says that once he had arrived, Henderson had become “a committed Christian,” and although he says that he didn’t spend much time listening to what Henderson had to say, he did spend time watching him and seeing how he acted.     “He had a relationship with his family that I could only dream of,” said Unger, who later that year was invited to attend a Christian athletes’ convention in Phoenix, Arizona.     He decided to attend the conference primarily because it was being held in Phoenix and he could enjoy some nice weather. Unfortunately, once the conference speakers began his attention span waned after only five minutes. With his mind wandering, he said that he wished he was back on his farm riding his horse or motorcycles.     Then all of sudden one of the speakers caught Unger’s attention. “When the presenter started to speak of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, my ears perked up and my mind opened up.”     “I knew that was the missing void through all of my life. It wasn’t an instant deal, (his conversion) but it change my life. It changed my relationship with my wife and it changed my relationship with my kids.”     “I’m not religious one bit. I’m not a minister. I’m not a pastor. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that has change my life, and nobody can argue with that. You can argue the Bible or theology or anything you wanted but I know how I was before.”     He said his beliefs completely changed when he gave his life to Christ. “When I become a Christian I was important for who I was, not because of what I did.”     It was inspiring to see such a bold testimony delivered before a crowd that included many non-Christian, some of which were past and present members of the Edmonton Eskimos.     Also in attendance were two young men who would likely love to enjoy a hockey career of Unger’s caliber.     While they are both Christians, Oilers’ forward Dean McAmmond and Boston Bruin goaltending prospect, Scott Bailey (son of Pastor David Bailey of the Church of Abundant Life in Edmonton ) couldn’t help but be impressed to see a ‘cool guy’ like Garry Unger standing up for Jesus. Perhaps one day they’ll get a chance to speak at their own celebrity golf tournament. Hopefully they, too, will glorify the Lord as Garry Unger did.

God Answers Oiler Player’s Prayer     During his last year of pro hockey, while playing for the Edmonton Oilers, Garry Unger says he asked God in a specific prayer prior to a game to avoid conflict with an opposing player.     That player was Laurie Boschman, a linemate of Unger’s earlier that season in Edmonton but who was subsequently traded to the Winnipeg Jets, the team the Oilers were about to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs.     Besides being a player, Boschman was also a Christian.     When Unger was told by the coaches he’d be checking him in the series, he became concerned that since they were both “aggressive and competitive players,” they might end up in a major confrontation and their relationship might be damaged.     Once the game started the first five minutes went by without a stoppage in play. Unger’s line had yet to get on the ice so he told linemate Dave hunter they’d better be careful not to get a penalty. Hunter told him ‘no problem, I’ll be careful.’     “I was just leaving the bench before the whistle blew. I’d been on the ice about a second when I saw Dave go into the corner and elbow a guy in the head after an icing call.”     “He was real careful,” says Unger with tongue in cheek. “Now there’s a brawl going on at the other end of the ice so I skated down and dove into the crowd. I ended up separating my shoulder. God had just answered my prayer! Of course, I would have preferred he’d separated Laurie’s shoulder!”     “While I lay on the ice, I knew that would be the last game I played in the NHL. The difference was I had peace about it.”     “I knew God had a plan for my life outside of hockey and the exciting part was I wasn’t scared about it.”     Unger says when we meet God face to face, He won’t care how many goals we’ve scored or how many golf games we’ve won. Instead, “He’s going to ask you; ‘What did you do about Jesus Christ, did you accept or reject him?’ And I only know it for one reason, it happened to me and it changed my life.”     Today, Unger is back with the Oilers, the Tulsa Oilers, as coach and director of hockey operations for the Central Hockey League team. He’s also a spokesman for Athletes International Ministries.     He lives with his wife and family in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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