Tony Tanti - Playing Career

Playing Career

After playing minor hockey with the Mississauga Reps of the Metro Toronto Hockey League, Tanti began his junior career with the B-level St. Michael's Buzzers; he scored 58 points over 37 games. The following season, Tanti moved up to the major junior level with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Recording 81 goals in his first OHL season, he broke the league's rookie goal-scoring record previously set by Wayne Gretzky (70 goals in 1977–78). He added 69 assists for 150 points over 67 games. In the playoffs, he recorded 15 points over 11 games.

During the off-season, he was selected by the Chicago Black Hawks as the 12th overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut with the Black Hawks in 1981–82, appearing in two games (no points), but spent the majority of the season back in the junior level with the Generals. Playing in 57 OHL games, he recorded 62 goals and 126 points. The following season, he registered 34 goals and 62 points through 30 OHL games. At the NHL level, he had played one contest with Chicago before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks on January 6, 1983. He was sent to Vancouver in exchange for forward Curt Fraser, a noted fighter also capable of scoring.

Tanti joined a Canucks team that had competed in the Stanley Cup Finals the previous year (they lost to the New York Islanders). They failed to match that level of success during Tanti's tenure with the team and struggled to qualify for the playoffs yearly. Following the trade, Tanti immediately became a full-time NHLer and recorded 8 goals and 16 points over 39 games as a rookie. In his first full season as a Canuck (1983–84), he was chosen to the 1984 NHL All-Star Game, but was unable to play due to injury. Tanti went on to set a Canucks record with 45 goals, surpassing Darcy Rota's total of 42 from the previous season. Adding 41 assists for a career-high 86 points, he finished second in team scoring to linemate Patrik Sundstrom. The season also marked his first of five consecutive years leading the team in goal-scoring. He was also chosen as the fan-voted Most Exciting Player each year of that span.

Tanti's record-setting season was followed by 39 goals and 59 points over 68 games in 1984–85. He recorded a second consecutive 39 goals in 1985–86, a season in which he earned his second NHL All-Star Game selection. He played in the exhibition contest on a line with Denis Savard and Mark Messier and scored the first goal of the event. The following season, Tanti recorded 79 points (41 goals and 38 assists) over 77 games, earning the Cyrus H. McLean Trophy as the Canucks' leading scorer for the first time. He repeated the feat in 1987–88 with 40 goals and 77 points over 73 games, while also being awarded the Cyclone Taylor Trophy as team MVP.

Tanti's production decreased significantly in 1988–89 with 24 goals and 49 points over 77 games. Midway through the following campaign, he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a six-player trade on January 8, 1990. Tanti left Vancouver with Rod Buskas and Barry Pederson in exchange for Dave Capuano, Andrew McBain and Dan Quinn. Over seven seasons with the Canucks, he totaled 250 goals (which ranked second among all-time Canucks scorers, 12 behind leader Stan Smyl) and 470 points (third at the time, behind Smyl and Thomas Gradin). His 10 hat tricks, 102 power play goals and 29 game-winning goals all set team records, though they have since been surpassed. In a 2012 article by The Province, columnist Jim Jamieson declared Tanti as the Canucks' "first true sniper" in team history.

Tanti concluded his NHL career with brief stints in Pittsburgh and Buffalo before playing for six seasons in Berlin, Germany.