Sam Gagner

Sam Gagner
Sam Gagner in 2012
Born August 10, 1989
London, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams 		Arizona Coyotes
Edmonton Oilers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 6th overall, 2007
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2007–present

Sam William Gagner (born August 10, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing with the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round (6th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Minor and junior

Gagner played midget hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in 2004–05.[1] He scored 173 points and was awarded the Buck Houle Award – a Marlboros team award given for outstanding on ice performance and leadership.[2] The same season, he made his junior debut, playing 13 games for the Milton Icehawks of the OPJHL, scoring 15 points.[3] In 2005–06, he joined the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League and scored 46 points in 56 games, second in team scoring.[4]

Gagner originally committed to play hockey at the collegiate level for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but later decided to play closer to home and play major junior hockey in Canada. Considered a first round talent, the London Knights took him in the fourth round of the 2006 OHL entry draft on a flyer, as his commitment to play college hockey deterred many OHL teams from drafting him. Joined by future NHL stars Patrick Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn on the Knights' top line in 2006–07, Gagner scored 118 points in 53 games, fifth in league scoring. He also captained Team Burns/Bergeron (Red) in the 2007 CHL Top Prospects Game to a 5–3 victory over Team Bowman/Demers (White).

Edmonton Oilers

Gagner was drafted in the first round, sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On October 1, 2007, he was signed to a 3-year, entry level contract with the Oilers. He played his first NHL game on October 4 in a 3–2 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks and earned his first NHL point, assisting on a goal scored by Tom Gilbert.[5] On October 20, Gagner scored his first career NHL goal against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames.[6]

As the league's youngest player in 2007–08,[7] he tallied 49 points in 79 games playing between wingers and fellow rookies Andrew Cogliano and Robert Nilsson on a combination dubbed the "Kid Line". During the season, Gagner participated in the 2008 NHL YoungStars Game in Atlanta as part of All-Star weekend and was also named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February.[8] As part of a month-long scoring stretch in which he scored 13 points in 12 games, he also established an Oilers team record for the longest assists streak by a rookie with nine assists in eight straight games.[9]

The next season, he recorded his first career NHL hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game in an 8–1 win against the Colorado Avalanche on March 19, 2009.[10] He finished the 2008–09 season with 16 goals and 41 points in 76 games. The following two campaigns, he posted 41- and 42-point efforts.

On March 9, 2011, Gagner severed a tendon in his left hand while facing the Washington Capitals when teammate Ryan Jones caught him with a skate blade while jumping over the boards. Requiring surgery, Gagner was sidelined for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, as well as one month into the following campaign. Gagner made his return to the Oilers lineup on October 22, 2011. Several months later, on February 2, 2012, Gagner scored four goals and four assists against the Chicago Blackhawks, tying the team record of eight points, previously set by Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey.[11] The feat also made him the thirteenth NHL player of all time to score 8 or more points in a single game, and the first since Mario Lemieux did it in 1989.[12] Two days later, Gagner scored two goals and added an assist in the first period against the Detroit Red Wings, setting a new Oilers record with 11 consecutive points, previously held by Gretzky who scored 10 consecutive points twice.[13] Gagner finished the season with 47 points over 75 games with nearly a quarter of his output having occurred in that two-game stretch.

During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Gagner signed with Klagenfuter AC of the Eishockey Liga in Austria.[14]

On July 22, 2013, the Oilers signed Gagner to a three-year deal worth 4.8 million dollars a year.[15]

Arizona Coyotes

On June 29, 2014, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired Sam Gagner in exchange for Teddy Purcell. He only spent an hour as a member of the Lightning before being acquired by the Arizona Coyotes, along with B. J. Crombeen, in exchange for a 6th round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.[16]

Gagner will wear number nine for the Arizona Coyotes. During training camp coach Dave Tippett moved the center to right wing where he played for some pre-season games.

International play


Gagner with Team Canada at the 2007 Super Series
Medal record
Competitor for  Canada
Ice hockey
World Championship
Silver 2008 Canada
World Junior Championship
Gold 2007 Sweden
Spengler Cup
Gold 2012 Davos

Gagner competed for Team Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championships in Sweden. He played in all six games as the youngest player on the team,[17] helping Canada to their third of five straight gold medals.

Later that year, upon being drafted in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Gagner competed in the 2007 Super Series, an eight-game series between Canada's and Russia's national junior teams commemorating the 1972 Summit Series. He scored 15 points and was named series MVP, as Canada defeated Russia 7-0-1 in the series.

After Gagner's 2007–08 rookie season with the Edmonton Oilers, he made his senior international debut with Team Canada in the 2008 World Championships in Canada as a reserve. Gagner played in one preliminary game as Canada was defeated in the gold medal game by Russia.

Off the ice

In his rookie year, Gagner lived in a house provided by Oilers captain Ethan Moreau, along with teammates Andrew Cogliano and Tom Gilbert. In the summer of 2009, Gilbert bought his own house while Gagner and Cogliano got apartments in Edmonton in the same complex.[18] During the off-season, Gagner goes back to his hometown of London, Ontario.

Gagner is the son of former NHL player Dave Gagner, who spent 15 seasons with New York, Minnesota, Dallas, Calgary, Toronto, Florida, and Vancouver. Due to his dad's career, he grew up in Minneapolis, Dallas, Toronto, Calgary, Miami, and Oakville, Ontario.[19] His sister, Jessica Gagner, plays hockey for the Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey program.[20]

Gagner married longtime girlfriend Rachel Linke in Muskoka, ON on July 12, 2014.[21]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2004–05 Toronto Marlboros GTHL 89 63 110 173 56 — — — — —
2004–05 Milton Icehawks OPJHL 13 5 10 15 10 — — — — —
2005–06 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 56 11 35 46 60 — — — — —
2006–07 London Knights OHL 53 35 83 118 36 16 7 22 29 22
2007–08 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 13 36 49 23 — — — — —
2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 76 16 25 41 51 — — — — —
2009–10 Edmonton Oilers NHL 68 15 26 41 33 — — — — —
2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL 68 15 27 42 37 — — — — —
2011–12 Edmonton Oilers NHL 75 18 29 47 36 — — — — —
2012–13 EC KAC EBEL 21 10 10 20 8 — — — — —
2012–13 Edmonton Oilers NHL 48 14 24 38 23 — — — — —
2013–14 Edmonton Oilers NHL 67 10 27 37 41 — — — — —
2014–15 Arizona Coyotes NHL 81 15 26 41 28 — — — — —
NHL totals 562 116 220 336 272 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2007 Canada WJC 1st 6 0 0 0 8
2007 Canada SS 1st 8 6 9 15 8
2008 Canada WC 2nd 1 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 14 6 9 15 16
Senior totals 1 0 0 0 0

All stats amalgamated from hockeydb.com, hockeysfuture.com, and NHL.com

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sam Gagner". Hockey's Future. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. ↑ "Buck Houle Award". Toronto Marlboros. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  3. ↑ "Sam Gagner". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  4. ↑ "2005-06 Sioux City Musketeers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  5. ↑ "Stoll scores in shootout to lift Oilers to victory over Sharks". USA Today. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  6. ↑ "NHL Roundup". International Herald Tribune. 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  7. ↑ "Gagner happy to be part of Team Canada". NHL.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  8. ↑ "Gagner named rookie of the month". Globe and Mail. 2008-03-04.
  9. ↑ "Oilers snap losing streak with win over Avs". Globe and Mail. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  10. ↑ "Gagner leads Oilers in romp over Avalanche". National Post. 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  11. ↑ "Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers - Boxscore - February 2, 2012". SI.com. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Hockey Hall of Fame- Records and Rankings". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Gagner picks up three points, Oilers down Wings in SO". tsn.ca. 2012-02-05.
  14. ↑ "Sam Gagner heads overseas, to play for Klagenfurt in Austrian League". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Gagner, Oilers reach deal, avoid arbitration". nhl.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013. www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=678570&navid=nhl%3Atopheads
  16. ↑ "Sam Gagner traded to Coyotes". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Team Canada Roster/Information". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  18. ↑ Jones, Terry. "Cogs: 'It was pretty shocking'". slam.canoe.ca.
  19. ↑ Inside College Hockey - The Recruiting Trail
  20. ↑ "Jessica Gagner Biography". Dartmouth Big Green. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
  21. ↑ http://instagram.com/p/qb4GFXJXdn/?modal=true

External links

Preceded by
Andrew Cogliano		 Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick
2007 		Succeeded by
Alex Plante