As a hockey player at GFC, Gary was part of three state championships. He went on to play two years at UND, then another two years playing with his brothers in a semi-pro league, similar to today's USHL, in Madison and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Gary was inducted into the GFC Hall of Fame as a player in 2016. Gary started his hockey coaching career in Indus, a small town in northern Minnesota, in 1985. Gary then took his coaching skills to Grafton, and in 1991, won his first state championship as a coach. After taking a teaching and coaching job at Red River High School in 1993, his teams won 3 consecutive state championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998. His teams also finished in 3rd in 1994 and 1995. He was named the North Dakota Coach of the Year in 1990 when he was head coach at Grafton and 1994 as the coach of the Roughriders. Gary retired from his role as an educator at Red River in 2014.