According to then-North Stars general manager Lou Nanne, Gaetz was intended to provide on-ice protection for forward Mike Modano, Minnesota's No.

His brain stem had been injured, and Gaetz awoke with his left side partially paralyzed and no memory of the accident.

Over the next two months, he worked with therapists to regain movement and speech, and he confounded doctors by returning to the ice late that summer, skating twice daily.

On September 10, 1993, Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi traded the 23-year-old defenseman to the Edmonton Oilers for a tenth-round pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

He also spent some time in 1994 with Roller Hockey International playing eight games (1G, 3A, 4PTS, 46 PIM) for the Sacramento River Rats where he was kicked off the team for "beating up the trainer", in Gaetz's own recollection.

While he was playing with the Thetford Mines Prolab of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) on March 13, 2005, in a game against the Verdun Dragons, Gaetz did not take a shift during the first or second periods.