[Bad News Gertner]

Been meaning to share these stories for a while. Does anybody remember Link Gaetz? He was an enforcer drafted in the 2nd round of the 1988 draft by the Minnesota North Stars to protect their first round pick: Mike Modano. Anyways, old Link has had an interesting hockey career and I thought I'd share some classic stories about Link, seen below, lol sporting two black eyes in his draft picture.





On the day of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, in which Gaetz was drafted in the 2nd round with the 40th pick overall by the Dallas Stars, legend has it that he entered the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec sporting two black eyes and carrying a case of beer under each arm. On the most important day of his career, Gaetz felt two cases of beer to be the best pre-draft preparation; what a role model.



Link used to get the team's mail, and when the club's rookies would get mail, he would open their letters, read them and if there was any money in them, would pocket his findings. He burned his final bridge in Nashville when on his way to a team party he wasn't invited to, the car in front of him was driving slowly to prevent Link from entering; instinctively, Gaetz floored it, smashing the car in front of him and pushing it into the party.

Link then exited his vehicle, beat the driver unconscious and calmly walked into the party, leaving the scene of the accident he had just caused. When the unlucky driver came to, he called local police and Link was sent to jail.

From jail, Link phoned then coach Nick Fotiu to bail him out; angered by the incident, Fotiu told Gaetz to spend the night in jail. So the next morning when Link was released, he went to the team's practice facility, walked up and sucker-punched his coach in the face. Surprisingly, the team and league suspended Link for the remainder of the season.


In the 1994-95 season Later that year San Antonio was playing Dallas (Link two-handed Frank LaScala broke his arm, thats when Jeff Beaudin jumped in and fought Link.) That was the last game Link played in that league because they suspended him for the season. After that Link went and played a few games for Fresno and fought Gunnar 2x.(he kept following me from league to league LOL) 1996-1997 Link played in Madison (Unitied) Dave Schultz was the coach and Link played with Gunnar Kroseburg (the guy he beat up in Fresno). That year Link fought Mel Inglestead, Jason Disher of Thunder Bay, also Richie Walcott etc. Link sometimes used to show up to the rink drunk, Schultz was getting pissed off at Link, Finally one game from the bench he started stick swinging with a player on the other team, and guess what he got suspended the rest of the season. Thats when Madison traded for Richie Walcott because Link was done for the year. Then in 1997-1998 Link started off the season with the Anchorage Aces(WCHL) Anchorage had to put up a 40,000 dollar bond so Link could play in the league, and if he did anything stupid the team would loss the bond, and guess what 11 games into the season he gets in a fight, after the fight he won't stop, keeps trying to get at the guy so the ref jumps in to help, Link gets so pissed off that he bit the linesmen in the leg, they suspended him the rest of the season, and the Aces lost all that money!


January 19, 1999: Link was arrested in Huntsville, Texas on January 10th and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. His bond, which was raised from $10,000 to $100,000 after he taunted the arraigning judge and reportedly told him to "fu-- off," was later reduced to $5,000, but the last we heard, he was still in jail.


March 13, 2005: Link suits up but doesn't play in his final game. He is later suspended for the rest of the season. Not because of a fight, but because he wanted a hamburger. Apparently, this was the norm for Link and did the same thing while with the San Francisco Spiders.


Video of Link Gaetz getting into a stick fight



he flipped his car over in the parking lot of the coliseum (? Northstars arena) crawls out, goes in to participate in the team practice, doesn't say a fucking word about his car being upside down, like it never happened. When the cops came, he was trying to hide in the dressing room.

Also in Minnesota, another experience with having Link as a roomate. His roommate was in his bedroom fucking a girl. Link is drunk and begins pounding on the door and saying "I'll huff, and I'll puff...". Finally the door is kicked in and there stands link gaetz, bare ass naked holding a bottle of vodka (and probably his PP). What happened after that I don't know.

Four years ago, in Miramichi, New Brunswick, police found the battered form of a huge miner whom Gaetz had pummeled and tossed into a snowbank. A local who knew both assailant and assailed has this to say: "They were drinking and got into a car together, and the guy thought he could tell Link a thing or two. Well, I'll tell you what. If you're gonna shoot your mouth off with Link, you're gonna get it shut. That lad got his face dismembered. He looked like he was wearing a Halloween mask.


"Link got hold of a motorcycle and a pistol," Twist says. "The bike ran out of gas and he started walking. He passed a church, shot out the stained glass windows. He was disappointed because he was aiming for the bell." Result: arrest for carrying a firearm without a permit, conviction for disorderly conduct and three days in jail. Then there was the time when Twist's Peoria Rivermen hosted Gaetz's Kalamazoo Wings. Twist was heading home when he noticed a smashed TV in front of the Hotel Continental Regency and a hole in a fourth-floor window. Depending on whom you believe, Gaetz was either upset that he'd been thrown out of practice (the police version) or annoyed that his window wouldn't open