Gagner: French for WIN!

[Darren Dirt]

I'm surprised nobody else started this brag thread


http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/capitals/gagner-has-4-goals-4-assists-to-tie-oilers-record-with-8-points-in-win-over-blackhawks/2012/02/03/gIQAAHazlQ_story.html


Helluva game, that 3rd period WOW. (2nd was pretty intense too ... just in the 3rd you could almost feel 10,000 oil fans driving Sam into the record books... And when the 8th point happened it was like, will he SURPASS Gretzky? :nailbiter:

[Thorin]

Didn't know you watched the Oil. It played out like a classic Oilers game, high scoring but man, every time the puck got in our end we were fighting over it right in front of our net. Hell, when it was in the corner, we'd even throw it out in front for good measure. As much as Gagner helped us on all eight goals and tied a team record of points in a game (tied with Gretzky and Coffey!), it's Dubnyk that kept this from being 12-8 against. He made lots of good saves, kept the team in the game, so that eventually the Oil could take the commanding lead in the third.

Gagner was named first, second, and third star - that was pretty cool, although I would've liked to see Dubnyk get some recognition for his excellent work in net. And hell, Hall actually passed to someone else instead of trying to score himself! That was nice to see, too.

If you watch advanced stats at all, you know Gagner has been getting quite a few scoring chances but just not a lot of points so far this year (he was at 22 points in 43 games going into this game). Those scoring chances have come from him working his ass off on the ice and at practice. This eight-point game is just an extension of his hard work, finally cashing in on the chances he's been getting.

[Mr. Analog]

A win is good, but we've dominated the Blackhawks before so I'm not all that surprised by the performance.

I am a bit concerned with our standings though, once again the Oil are at the bottom of the division and not looking good in the league once again.

I'd much rather see more consistent play than one game of wild shenanigans once in a blue moon.

[Darren Dirt]

Didn't know you watched the Oil. It played out like a classic Oilers game

casino poker room = handful of TVs always tuned to a sports channel. Captioning was not on, though, so couldn't "hear" the articulate wisdom that Sam shared after the game about how he managed his achievement. tbh I don't really watch the games in detail, but once I noticed a bunch of HATS thrown on the ice, I was like "wuh? for OUR TEAM?" and started actually paying attention. 


But agreed, "classic Oilers game" is what it felt like during the last 15 minutes or so, totally reminded me of how it felt in the mid 1980s watching history unfold (repeatedly ) last night the spirit of 99 was alive in 89. Nice to see all those long-suffering oil fans actually have something to cheer about

[CowGirl]

Wow, just wow!  I thought when the blackhawks got the quick goal on us, Oh no not one of those games.  But then we scored and they kept on coming.  Gagner gives me hope!

[Mr. Analog]

The Oil would be in a good shape if they just played Chicago all year lol

[Thorin]

Didn't know you watched the Oil. It played out like a classic Oilers game

casino poker room = handful of TVs always tuned to a sports channel

Hopefully penny-ante poker, not kids-college-money poker.

The Oil would be in a good shape if they just played Chicago all year lol

Especially funny because Patrick Kane from Chicago promised revenge for that 9-2 drubbing last time they were in town. And Chicago did improve their goals-for on us. This game against Chicago we won 8-4, so they scored 4 goals. The game before, we won 4-3, so they scored 3 goals. The game before that, we won 9-2, so they scored 2 goals. See? There's an upward trend for Chicago. Too bad they let us just break in and pick the corners.

Whitney's goal was awesome, Barker's goal was a surprise, Hall passing to Gagner instead of shooting off the goal line himself was unbelievable (when's the last time you've seen Hall pass directly instead of passing off the goalie's pads?)

[Darren Dirt]

didn't think of it earlier, but was just now curious about Twitter trend...

http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23gagner

It's kinda like re-living the game, as the # of points go up the # of excited oilfans (including Edmonton ex-pats) goes up 

and 5 minutes later the page says "20 new tweets"    nice when our little river city is talked about in other provinces[/countries].

http://twitter.com/#!/NHL_Oilers/status/165478534880563200/photo/1/large

http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23Oilers




and a very good point made here:
http://twitter.com/#!/OilOnWhyte/status/165303326697734144
"Lost in the press ink of Gagner's 8 point fiesta are four point nights by @hallsy04 and @ebs_14"


(at one point was trending #1 WORLDWIDE!)
http://swedishoil.dohfos.eu/post/16992741002/gagner-8-hemsky-gone-omark-back

[Thorin]

Gretzky texted Gagner.  Coffey called Gagner.  And then Gagner goes and says something humbling like that he's gotta work on consistency in his game...  That kid's all heart, man.

source: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/03/oilers-gagner-still-in-spotlight

[Darren Dirt]

Gretzky texted Gagner.  Coffey called Gagner.  And then Gagner goes and says something humbling like that he's gotta work on consistency in his game...  That kid's all heart, man.

Seriously, maybe I'm just an extra-sensitive softy right now cuz me and my son had a Deep Talk, plus a few hours before all 3 of my kids shared with the surprisingly AWESOME movie experience that is HappyFeet2, but tbh what I quoted above just about triggered the ol' tear ducts. Very cool to hear, all of it, thanks for sharing.




and btw, looks like the fun continued vs. The Disappearing City...
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Gagner+continues+impress+over+Wings/6104110/story.html

Gagner's 11 points on 11 consecutive goals is a new Oilers record. Wayne Gretzky had a streak of 10 twice (Dec. 26-30, 1984 and Oct. 15-19, 1986)

"I knew I wouldn't get another eight point night but I wanted to make sure I was getting to the net and continue to try and create chances," Gagner said. "I got some fortunate bounces in the first but even after that I felt our line was creating and that's big for us moving forward. I just feel way better. I want the puck, and that's a big thing for me. I want to be that guy. Confidence is a huge thing for me and I just want to keep going."

[Mr. Analog]

Well, I'm pretty happy that Gagner is on fire!

I just wish it had maybe happened a little sooner in the season