Tony Tanti

Tony Tanti
Born September 7, 1963 (1963-09-07) (age 48)
Toronto, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for NHL
 Chicago Black Hawks
 Vancouver Canucks
 Pittsburgh Penguins
 Buffalo Sabres
DEL
 BSC Preussen Berlin
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 12th overall, 1981
Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career 1981–1998

Tony Tanti (born September 7, 1963) is a retired professional ice hockey player. He was a left winger and played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks. Originally drafted 12th overall by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, he also played briefly for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in the latter stages of his NHL career. After twelve seasons in the NHL, Tanti began a playing career in Germany's Bundesliga. He played in Berlin for six seasons before retiring after the 1997–98 season.

Contents

Playing career

As a junior in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons, Tanti played with the Oshawa Generals, breaking a league rookie record previously set by Wayne Gretzky. Tanti still holds the record for most goals by a rookie with 81 in 1980–81.[1] He was selected by the Chicago Black Hawks as the 12th overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, but was traded after just three games over two seasons to the Vancouver Canucks for feared fighter and able scorer Curt Fraser in 1982–83.

As a proficient scorer in junior, Vancouver hoped he'd bring that scoring touch to the West Coast. In his first full season as a Canuck (1983–84), he set a new club goal scoring record with 45, passing Darcy Rota's total of 42 from the previous season. Adding 41 assists for 86 points, he finished second in team scoring to linemate Patrik Sundstrom. He followed that up with two consecutive 39-goal seasons before earning the Cyrus H. McLean Trophy as the Canucks leading points scorer in 1986–87 and 1987–88. In eight seasons with the Canucks, Tanti totaled 250 goals and 220 assists for 470 points - sixth overall in all-time franchise scoring. He is also second in all-time power play goals with 102.[2]

Medal record
Competitor for Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze 1986 Soviet Union Ice hockey
Silver 1985 Czechoslovakia Ice hockey

At the height of his game, Tanti was one of the most feared snipers in the league. At just 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 180 pounds (82 kg), he had a knack for eluding opposing checkers and darting around defensemen. He earned the Canucks' Most Exciting Player Award five years in a row (1983–84 through 1987–88), leading the team in goal scoring in that same span. He was also selected to play in the 1984 and 1986 NHL All-Star Game. Although he was unable to play in 1984 due to injury, in 1986, he played on a line with Denis Savard and Mark Messier, and scored the first goal of the event. He was named Vancouver Canucks MVP for the 1987–88 season. Internationally, he played for Canada at the 1983 World Junior Championships and at the World Championships in 1985, 1986, and 1987. He was invited to the training camp for the 1987 Canada Cup, but failed to make the team.

Tanti concluded his NHL career with brief stints in Pittsburgh and Buffalo before playing for six seasons in Berlin, Germany. He has now retired from the game and resides in West Vancouver, working as an agent for a wholesale flooring business. In his spare time, he coaches youth hockey alongside another former Canuck Dave Babych.

Awards and achievements

Records

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1979–80 St. Michael's Buzzers OHA-B 37 31 27 58 67 — — — — —
1980–81 Oshawa Generals OHL 67 81 69 150 197 11 7 8 15 41
1981–82 Oshawa Generals OHL 57 62 64 126 138 12 14 12 26 15
1981–82 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1982–83 Oshawa Generals OHL 30 34 28 62 35 — — — — —
1982–83 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 1 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
1982–83 Vancouver Canucks NHL 39 8 8 16 16 4 0 1 1 0
1983–84 Vancouver Canucks NHL 79 45 41 86 50 4 1 2 3 0
1984–85 Vancouver Canucks NHL 68 39 20 59 45 — — — — —
1985–86 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 39 20 59 45 3 0 1 1 11
1986–87 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 41 38 79 84 — — — — —
1987–88 Vancouver Canucks NHL 73 40 37 77 90 — — — — —
1988–89 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 24 25 49 69 7 0 5 5 4
1989–90 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 14 18 32 50 — — — — —
1989–90 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 37 14 18 32 22 — — — — —
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 46 6 12 18 44 — — — — —
1990–91 Buffalo Sabres NHL 10 1 7 8 6 5 2 0 2 8
1991–92 Buffalo Sabres NHL 70 15 16 31 100 7 0 3 3 4
1992–93 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 34 14 17 31 73 — — — — —
1993–94 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 43 19 24 43 50 — — — — —
1994–95 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 42 25 33 58 114 9 2 2 4 8
1995–96 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 43 32 28 60 56 11 9 5 14 16
1996–97 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 43 14 25 39 42 4 0 2 2 6
1997–98 BSC Preussen Berlin DEL 41 6 24 30 84 — — — — —
NHL totals 697 287 273 560 661 30 3 12 15 27

International

Year Team Event   GP G A P PIM
1983 Canada WJC 7 0 4 4 0
1985 Canada WC 10 5 2 7 12
1986 Canada WC 8 5 3 8 22
1987 Canada WC 10 6 2 8 6
Senior int'l totals 28 16 7 23 40

All-Star Games

Year Location   G A P
1984 East Rutherford — — —
1986 Hartford 1 0 1
All-Star totals 1 0 1

References

  1. ^ "CHL Record Book". Canadian Hockey League. http://www.chl.ca/chlrecordBook.php?award=57&season=Single%20Season. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
  2. ^ "Canuck Career Leaders". http://www3.telus.net/dmarchak/cancar.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Denis Savard		 Chicago Blackhawks first round draft pick
1981		 Succeeded by
Ken Yaremchuk