For those of you who didn’t hear (aka Americans who don’t get proper hockey news coverage)… Last night Sam Gagner tallied 8 points for the Oilers in their win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Sam Gagner becomes the 3rd Oiler player to score 8 points in a game (with Gretzky and Coffey– good company huh?)
Even more impressive is that no one in the NHL has been able to make this feat since Mario Lemieux scored 8 points in the late 1980s. So is Gagner really on par with the 8-point superstar club? Is it fair to put him in a grouping with Maurice Richard, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, and Bryan Trottier? I mean, he did earn it. Eight points in a eight-goal win is pretty impressive. He scored 4 goals and 4 assists in the game and fans couldn’t get enough. It is reported that after Gagner’s fourth goal, one fan (who had already thrown his hat for the hat-trick) through his shoe on the ice- now if that isn’t excitement and serious commitment I don’t know what is! Gagner’s name also started to trending on Canadian’s twitter accounts yesterday and quickly became the number 1 topic trending worldwide on twitter. To top it all off, Gagner is going to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Can you imagine what he could do for a franchise that has a decent record and is building a strong, young team?
Here are the highlights of Gagner’s 4 goals and 4 assists from last night:
FiveForBoarding 
Amazing performance from a player who gets very little press in the states. Scoring like that against a quality team like Chicago is even more impressive.
Thanks for sharing Andi that’s a great article! I was at the game last night and it was wild. Quite unexpected considering he has had 10 goals all season so it was pretty amazing! The energy in Edmonton right now is intense
“Can you imagine what he could do for a franchise that has a decent record and is building a strong, young team?”
I’m not sure exactly what you meant here… aren’t the Oilers a franchise with an amazing history, and are considered by most to be a strong, young team?
Were you talking about the Oilers, or were you alluding to another franchise when you mentioned his upcoming UFA status?
Otherwise, great read.
No doubt the Oilers have an amazing history, but has this season really been that great? I’d argue no. At this point they have lost more games than they have won!
My point was if Gagner got to play on a team that was having a more dynamic season and began to build a playing relationship with some other young players, he could be a great asset to another franchise. However, there is still a good chance Gagner will mesh with Edmonton and this has just been an off season. Or I might just be over-estimating Gagner all together…