Garet Hunt (born October 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently under contract with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.

Garet Hunt
Garet Hunt with the Vancouver Giants in 2007.
Born (1987-10-14) October 14, 1987 (age 37)
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
ECHL team
Former teams
South Carolina Stingrays
Springfield Falcons
Worcester Sharks
ASC Corona Brasov
Kunlun Red Star
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2008–present

Hunt he previously played with ASC Corona Brasov in the Erste Liga and Kunlun Red Star in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was previously a stalwart with former ECHL club, the Stockton Thunder. He is best known for his agitating playing style.

Playing career

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Hunt began his junior career with the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). In 2004–05, he joined the Vancouver Giants of the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL). He would go on to play four seasons with the Giants and establish himself as an effective agitator, while helping the club to the 2006 President's Cup championship as WHL champions and the 2007 Memorial Cup championship as Canadian major junior champions (although Hunt missed the entirety of the 2007 playoffs due to a broken leg).[1] In his final year of junior in 2007–08, he recorded WHL career-highs with 18 points and 239 penalty minutes in addition to a league-high 27 fighting majors.[2]

Undrafted at the end of his junior career, Hunt signed a minor league contract with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League (AHL).[2] Hunt was then assigned to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL for his professional rookie season in 2008–09. During his rookie season with the Thunder, Hunt played 69 games and contributed 16 points (5 goals and 11 assists). He also finished second in the ECHL with 248 penalty minutes.

After remaining in Stockton upon the Thunder relocating to Adirondack, Hunt earned a try-out contract to attend the newly installed AHL franchise, the Stockton Heat training camp. Upon his release from the Heat, Hunt signed for just his second ECHL club, in the Alaska Aces on November 4, 2015.[3] Hunt's number was later retired by the Stockton Thunder and upon leaving the ECHL after 11 seasons, he was the most penalized player in history with 2666 PIM in 702 games.

On July 4, 2019, Hunt was signed by Chinese club, HC Kunlun Red Star of the KHL, to a two-year contract. Reconnecting with his Chinese origin, Hunt would be eligible to play for China at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.[4]

Hunt signed with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL on March 8, 2021.[5] In 7 appearances with the Nailers, Hunt added 3 points and 21 penalty minutes.

As a free agent, Hunt extended his career in Europe, agreeing to a contract with Romanian club ASC Corona Brasov of the Erste Liga on August 11, 2021.

On November 28, 2021 against Csíkszereda, he received multiple penalties stemming from a fight, namely 5 minutes for fighting and a 20 minute game misconduct. He received an additional 20 minutes for abuse of officials for throwing a trash can onto the ice towards the linesmen. This resulted in a nine game suspension.[6][7]

After a season in Romania, in July 2022 Hunt initially signed for the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League for the 2022–23 season.[8] However, in August 2022 it was announced he would not be joining Nottingham after instead being offered a contract in the KHL.[9] Hunt instead returned to the KHL with HC Kunlun Red Star.[10]

On October 5, 2023, Hunt returned to North America and the ECHL in signing a contract with the South Carolina Stingrays for the 2023–24 season.[11]

Career statistics

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Chilliwack Chiefs BCHL 55 6 5 11 203 11 0 1 1 4
2004–05 Vancouver Giants WHL 23 1 2 3 44 1 0 0 0 2
2005–06 Vancouver Giants WHL 51 2 7 9 103 18 1 0 1 17
2006–07 Vancouver Giants WHL 57 6 5 11 156
2007–08 Vancouver Giants WHL 62 7 11 18 239 10 0 1 1 6
2008–09 Stockton Thunder ECHL 63 5 11 16 248 13 3 0 3 22
2008–09 Springfield Falcons AHL 1 0 0 0 2
2009–10 Stockton Thunder ECHL 52 5 7 12 215 13 3 2 5 8
2010–11 Worcester Sharks AHL 9 0 1 1 35
2010–11 Stockton Thunder ECHL 60 13 17 30 248 4 0 1 1 4
2011–12 Stockton Thunder ECHL 69 7 12 19 255 8 1 0 1 14
2012–13 Stockton Thunder ECHL 70 7 18 25 235 23 3 10 13 25
2013–14 Stockton Thunder ECHL 69 14 22 36 187 7 1 1 2 31
2014–15 Stockton Thunder ECHL 58 13 8 21 269
2015–16 Alaska Aces ECHL 61 11 12 23 277
2016–17 Alaska Aces ECHL 63 4 12 16 243
2017–18 Jacksonville Icemen ECHL 68 14 9 23 221
2018–19 Jacksonville Icemen ECHL 69 9 14 23 268 2 0 0 0 20
2019–20 Kunlun Red Star KHL 28 0 1 1 63
2020–21 Wheeling Nailers ECHL 7 1 2 3 21
2021–22 ASC Corona Brasov Erste Liga 21 9 15 24 79 3 0 1 1 21
2021–22 ASC Corona Brașov Romania 18 12 13 25 73
2022–23 Kunlun Red Star KHL 40 1 1 2 95
ECHL totals 709 103 144 247 2687 70 11 14 25 124
AHL totals 10 0 1 1 37
KHL totals 68 1 2 3 158

References

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  1. ^ "Hunt makes most of last WHL season". HockeyNow.com. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  2. ^ a b "Giants pest Hunt signs minor-league deal with Oilers". The Province. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  3. ^ "Aces sign former Stockton enforcer Hunt". oursportscentral.com. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  4. ^ HC Kunlun Red Star (July 4, 2019). "Kunlun sign Garet Hunt". Instagram. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  5. ^ @WheelingNailers (March 8, 2021). "Hunt Season is about to begin!702 games, 102 goals, 142 assists, 144 points, and an ECHL RECORD 2,666 career pena…" (Tweet). Retrieved March 8, 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (November 30, 2021). "Garet Hunt 9 mérkőzésre szóló eltiltást kapott". Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  7. ^ Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation (November 29, 2021). "Garet Hunt 9 Games Suspension". YouTube. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  8. ^ @PanthersIHC (20 July 2022). "OFFICIAL: The Nottingham Panthers have signed forward Garet Hunt for the 2022/23 Premier Sports Elite League season…" (Tweet). Retrieved July 21, 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "Hunt Departs". Panthers.co.uk. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  10. ^ @KRSchina (28 August 2022). "#KRS added China heritage enforcer Garet Hunt to the team for 2022–2023 season. Maple Ridge, BC native, Hunt is 200…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Stingrays agree to terms with Hunt". ECHL. October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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