Sam Gagner

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


position = Centre
shoots = Right
height_ft = 5
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 191
team = Edmonton Oilers
league = NHL
former_league = OHL
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|1989|8|10
birth_place = London, ON
draft = 6th overall
draft_year = 2007
draft_team = Edmonton Oilers
career_start = 2007
nickname = Master Samwise,
Gagner West [citeweb|title=Garon makes it two in a row and we're out of the Cellar|url=http://www.thescore.ca/sixpack/index.asp?name=/2007/11/garon_makes_it.html&catID] [citeweb|title=Samwise and the other Wise Guys|http://communities.canada.com/edmontonjournal/blogs/sweatsox/archive/2007/12/03/samwise-and-the-other-wise-guys.aspx] citeweb|title=Mathieu Garon is giving me that Bernie Parent feeling|url=http://communities.canada.com/edmontonjournal/blogs/hockey/archive/2007/12/04/mathieu-garon-is-giving-me-that-bernie-parent-feeling.aspx|publisher=Edmonton Journal|date=2007-12-04]

Sam Gagner (born August 10, 1989, in London, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey centreman with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Gagner played midget hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in 2004-05. [citeweb|title=Sam Gagner|url=http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/sam_gagner|publisher=Hockey's Future|accessdate=2008-08-19] He scored 173 points and was awarded the Buck Houle Award – a Marlboros team award given for outstanding on ice performance and leadership. [citeweb|title=Buck Houle Award|url=http://www.torontomarlboros.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=75|accessdate=2008-08-19|publisher=Toronto Marlboros] The same season, he made his junior debut, playing 13 games for the Milton Icehawks of the OPJHL, scoring 15 points. [citeweb|title=Sam Gagner|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=93938|accessdate=2008-08-19|publisher=hockeydb.com]

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. [citeweb|title=2005-06 Sioux City Musketeers|url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0020522006.html|accessdate=2008-08-19|publisher=hockeydb.com]

Gagner verbally committed to play hockey at the Division 1 collegiate level for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but 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 had scared many OHL teams from drafting him.

Joined by future NHL stars Patrick Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn on the Knights' top line, 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).

That summer, he was drafted in the first round, sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. On October 1, 2007, Gagner 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. [citeweb|title=Stoll scores in shootout to lift Oilers to victory over Sharks|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2007-10-05-sharks-oilers_N.htm|accessdate=2008-08-19|date=2007-10-05|publisher=USA Today] On October 20, Gagner scored his first career NHL goal against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames. [citeweb|title=NHL Roundup|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/21/sports/nhl21.php?page=2|accessdate=2008-08-19|date=2007-10-21|publisher=International Herald Tribune]

As the league's youngest player in 2007-08, [citeweb|title=Gagner happy to be part of Team Canada|url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=361916&page=NewsPage&service=page|publisher=NHL.com|year=2008|accessdate=2008-04-28] he tallied 49 points in 79 games. 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. [citeweb|title=Gagner named rookie of the month|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080304.wsptgagner4/BNStory/GlobeSportsHockey|publisher=Globe and Mail|date=2008-03-04] 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. [citeweb|title=Oilers snap losing skid with win over Avs|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080224.wspt-avs-oilers24/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/Oilers|accessdate=2008-08-19|date=2008-02-25|publisher=Globe and Mail]

As Edmonton failed to make the playoffs, Gagner made his senior international debut with Team Canada, playing one preliminary game as a reserve in the 2008 World Championships, earning silver.

International play

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, [citeweb|title=Team Canada Roster/Information|url=http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/14990/la_id/1/season_id/190/team_id/647/ss_id/23170.htm|publisher=Hockey Canada|accessdate=2008-08-19] helping Canada to their third of four 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 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

Gagner currently lives in a house provided by Oilers captain Ethan Moreau, along with teammates Tom Gilbert and Andrew Cogliano.

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, Florida, and Oakville, Ontario.

Awards & achievements

*Buck Houle Award (Toronto Marlboros team award; outstanding on ice performance) - 2004
*World Junior Gold Medal - 2007
*World Championships Silver Medal - 2008
*Super Series MVP - 2007
*NHL Young Stars Game appearance - 2008
*NHL Rookie of the Month - February 2008
*Edmonton Oilers Rookie of the Year - 2008 (shared with Andrew Cogliano and Tom Gilbert)

Career statistics

International statistics

"All stats amalgamated from [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=93938 hockeydb.com] , [http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/sam_gagner hockeysfuture.com] , and [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=PlayerDetail&playerId=8474040 NHL.com] "

References

ee also

*List of NHL seasons
*List of Edmonton Oilers players
*List of OHL seasons

External links

*hockeydb|93938
* [http://www.powerplay89.com/ Sam Gagner Power Play Training Centre in London Ontario]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/feature-gagner.html CBC.ca Indepth feature on Gagner]
* [http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=319845 NHL.com Feature on Gagner]
* [http://oilers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=344551 Edmonton Oilers bio]
* [http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/164710 Toronto Star article]