Gagner’s ability to evolve paves road to 1,000 NHL games

The Sam Gagner that will take the ice on Thursday night for his 1,000th National Hockey League game is nowhere near the same player as the one that broke into the league in 2007 – and that’s a good thing.

In his mind, there is no way he’d be accomplishing this incredible career milestone if he was.

“I work hard at trying to reinvent myself, but also just putting in the work every day,” said the 33-year-old. “You learn that from teammates. I learned a lot of that from my old man, his work ethic, what he went through in his career. I owe a lot to that.”

He has a lot of people to thank, and around 20 of them will be inside Canada Life Centre when Gagner’s Winnipeg Jets face off with the Vancouver Canucks – one of the six other teams Gagner has played for in his career.

But first, it’s hard to tell Gagner’s story without mentioning his father Dave – an NHL All-Star in 1991, and who has 946 games on his NHL resume with 719 points.

Jets associate coach Scott Arniel faced off with Dave at the NHL level from the mid 1980s until the early 90s. He knows the significance of the milestone Gagner is reaching, and what it means to his whole family.

“I know his dad just came up short of that number, so this will be a big moment for him. He should be very proud of where he’s at,” Arniel said. “It’s a huge milestone for a hockey player. For anybody to get there, that’s longevity, that’s seeing a lot of the game evolve over the years. He’s had to evolve over the years to play different ways.” 

The way Gagner first fell in love with the game begins in Ontario. 

“When (Dave) retired and we moved to Ontario, and I had a rink in my backyard, that’s when it clicked for me,” Gagner said. “That’s when I developed my passion, that creativity and unstructured environment really helped me to thrive and enjoy the game in a new way.”

The product of London, Ontario moved away from home when he was 16 to play for the United States Hockey League’s Sioux City Musketeers, but returned to London the following season, his draft eligible year, to play for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

That’s when his dad played another role in his development, as he was the team’s assistant coach at the time.

“It was really cool,” said Gagner. “Going back at 17, living with my family and being in London, my dad coaching, it was a great experience. Something I’ll remember forever.”

Gagner was drafted sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2007, and will become the fifth member of that draft class to hit 1,000 games, joining Patrick Kane, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, and David Perron.

He has a ton of memories in an Oilers jersey. Of course, his eight-point game from February 2, 2012 against the Chicago Blackhawks stands out, but so does his first game. 

“I remember we won in a shootout, at home versus San Jose,” Gagner said. “I remember getting an assist on Tom Gilbert’s first NHL goal. And Andrew Cogliano was the other assist and we all lived together so it was a pretty special night for us. Feels like a long time ago now.” 

Likely because Gagner’s career has taken him, and his family, to a number of different places since.

When his first run in Edmonton came to an end after the 2013-14 season, Gagner moved on to Arizona, then Philadelphia, then Columbus, and then Vancouver in a four-year span. In his second season with the Canucks, in 2018-19, he was loaned to the Toronto Marlies for 43 games.

It wasn’t the first, or the last, time he’d be in the American Hockey League during his career, but he remembers that time in Toronto – with coach Sheldon Keefe – as an important chapter in the evolution of his game.

“I needed to be able to reinvent myself to sustain my career,” he said. “I felt like a lot of that was happening in the neutral zone. We talked a lot about that. I feel like I’ve been able to become a better play driver by being better in the neutral zone, being better defensively, and not spending as much time in the defensive zone.” 

That doesn’t mean his time in the AHL was easy. Since his NHL debut in Edmonton in 2007, Gagner played a total of 56 games in the AHL over three separate assignments. That’s one of the many occasions when his wife, Dr. Rachel Linke, stepped in.

“She’s kind of my psychologist,” Gagner said. “The amount of sacrifice she’s had (to make), to move around with a young family, give up parts of her career. It’s not possible without her.”

While she isn’t a formal psychologist (she graduated from the University of Alberta in medicine in 2013), she has been exactly the person Gagner can turn to, no matter what comes their way. The two were married in July of 2014, which happened to come just after Gagner was traded to Tampa Bay, then Arizona, in a 90-minute span in late June.

That’s enough of a roller-coaster for any couple planning a wedding, but add in the constant moving and three kids, and Gagner will always refer to Rachel as the rock of the family.

Through it all, she helped Gagner stay confident.

“I got sent down at 27, 28, and you wonder if that’s the end,” Gagner said. “You find out who is in your corner, who is supporting you, and builds those relationships even stronger. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’m really thankful for all the support I’ve gotten through my career and just grateful leading up to this, for sure.”  

After a second stint with the Oilers and parts of three seasons in Detroit, Gagner signed with the Jets on September 2, 2022.

It may be the smallest chunk of his 1,000 NHL games, but his impact in the dressing room has already been felt immensely. 

“For young guys and everyone else in the locker room, he loves coming to the rink every day, loves practicing and talking about sticks and tape jobs and little skills and stuff like that,” said Morrissey. “That kind of energy and excitement about the game is a big reason I think he’s going to achieve this milestone.”

That mentality of always trying to get better, finding ways to gain an edge, and working at his craft has stuck out to the 27-year-old Morrissey. Passing on those lessons, player-to-player, is incredibly valuable in the eyes of Arniel.

“He was sort of an all-out offensive guy when he came into the league,” Arniel said. “Now he’s realized that his play without the puck has got to be just as important. So he becomes a good example for others.”

Video: NYR@WPG: Gagner cleans up in front for go-ahead goal

Gagner’s kids are now getting to the age where they comprehend what their dad does for a job. His oldest is seven, and was on the glass for team’s most recent game, and often asks his dad about every game the Jets play.

He can’t wait to share this milestone with the people that matter most to him, although the silver stick might be off-limits for any mini-stick games at the family cottage in Muskoka.

He’s seen a number of close friends receive their stick – Marc Staal, Voracek, Andrew Cogliano, and Nick Foligno pop into his mind immediately – but no ceremony is the same.

Just like the story of the player receiving it is never the same.

It’s always evolving, just like Gagner.

“Physically, a lot of things haven’t really come naturally for me,” Gagner said. “Hockey IQ perspective, I’ve always had a knack for that. Physically I’ve had to work really hard to stay at that level, stay healthy.

“I’m hopeful as an older guy now that younger guys, I can help them through that as well. It’s something I take a lot of pride in.”