He played junior hockey for the Saskatoon Blades from 1979 to 1983, scoring 68 goals and 48 assists in his final season. The St. Louis Blues chose him 113th overall in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. Ganchar turned pro in 1983 and played two seasons in the minor pros, getting into only 8 games for the Blues. In 1985 he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Ron Flockhart but he only played one game for Montreal. The Pittsburgh Penguins traded for him in the 1987-88 season and he played 33 games for them. That was the extent of his NHL career. He played in 42 games and scored 3 goals and 7 assists.