George Edward Bud Gardner (October 8 1942 November 6 2006) was the first-ever goaltender for the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks. Gardner played for the Canucks after breaking into the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. With the Wings Gardner had to compete with Roger Crozier and Roy Edwards for playing time. In Vancouver he played in 42 games over two seasons before jumping to the new World Hockey Association. Given a list of categories: company, educational institution, artist, athlete, office holder, mean of transportation, building, natural place, village, animal, plant, album, film or written work, what category does the paragraph belong to?
Athlete