Gary Haight
Born (1961-10-04) October 4, 1961
Edmonds, Washington, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 168 lb (76 kg; 12 st 0 lb)
Position Defenseman
Shot Left
Played for Michigan State
National team  United States
Playing career 1980–1985

Gary Haight is an American former ice hockey defenseman who was an All-American for Michigan State.[1]

Career

Haight began attending Michigan State University in the fall of 1980, a member of Ron Mason's second recruiting class for the Spartans. MSU had a rather poor year in Haight's freshman year, finishing last in the WCHA and failing to qualify for postseason play. That offseason, Michigan State was one of four programs to leave the WCHA and join the CCHA. The change in scenery helped revive the Spartans and the team nearly won the regular season conference title in their first year. Haight's scoring production saw a big jump but it was his defensive prowess that attracted attention. Michigan State was the #2 defensive team in the country, allowing less than 3 goals per game and used their newfound success to win the conference tournament and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years. Haight's junior season saw nearly the same outcome as MSU was again second in the CCHA and second in the nation defensively. They won their second consecutive CCHA championship and lost in the NCAA quarterfinal round for the second straight year.

After the season, Haight was invited to participate in the 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships. He helped the United States go undefeated in pool B and earn a promotion to the top division. However, the next world championships wouldn't happen for two years because the 1984 Winter Olympics were up next. Due to Haight's performance in 1983, he was invited to remain with the team and accepted. He spent the next year with the US national team but didn't end up playing in Sarajevo, though he was a member of the team. The defending champion US finished a very disappointing 7th and Height returned to Michigan State the next year.

MSU hadn't broken stride in Haight's absence, but upon his return the team performed even better. In 1985 the Spartans won the regular season CCHA title for the first time and were by far and away the best defensive team in the country (100 goals against in 44 games) Haight was named as an All-American and Haight helped the team to their fourth consecutive CCHA championship and the team received the top western seed in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Spartans lost in the quarterfinals to an upstart Providence squad.[2] Haight played 2 games for the national team at the 1985 Ice Hockey World Championships and then retired as a player.[3]

He spent the next year back home in Seattle and worked for HRC Trucks. He returned to East Lansing once more to complete his degree in transportation management then went back to work for HRC. He became the fleet operations manager for the west coast in 1990 and remained in that position for 15 years.[4]

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1978–79 West Kelowna Warriors BCJHL 566192593—————
1978–79 Seattle Breakers WHL 1908831—————
1979–80 Seattle Breakers WHL 6912122831204430
1980–81 Michigan State WCHA 365172264—————
1981–82 Michigan State CCHA 409334275—————
1982–83 Michigan State CCHA 406243052—————
1984–85 Michigan State CCHA 447263346—————
NCAA totals 16027100127237—————

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1983 United States WC-B 1st — — — — —
1983–84 United States International — — — — — —
1984 United States Olympics 7th 0 0 0 0 0
1985 United States WC 4th 2 0 2 2 0

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-CCHA First Team 1984–85 [5]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1984–85 [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ "NCAA Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Team USA - Ice Hockey World Championships 1985 - Player Stats". Quant Hockey. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Gary Haight". Linked In. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ "All-CCHA Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
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