It's a personal stat. One that he should be absolutely proud of. And he sure as **** DID earn it with his own prowess. He had a hell of a game and fully deserves each of the points he achieved that night. The only point you could possibly say he didn't earn with his own play is maybe Whitney's goal.
Gagner got his 8 points playing legit without any artificial conditions to improve his production. He should be damn proud of what he did, and I have no doubts whatsoever that he is.
I'd be ****ing embarrassed if any of my teammates called a timeout for me in any game because I happened to put myself in a position to break a record by a legend and the timeout's purpose wasn't otherwise warranted. Gretzky earned his records, as did Sam Gagner. No one needs any extra ******** to artificially try to break a record.
Based on how humble Mr. Gagner was when being asked about it, I'm actually quite confident he would NOT want his team to call a timeout for him in a game when the score no longer matter simply to give him another chance to get a point.
Good post.
Of course its a personal stat. Plus that there were brilliant plays in the bunch and LMHF gave a pretty good rundown of the nuance of the plays in another thread.
I understand that there is lots of questioning about the 8pt game, does this mean anything, will this change anything, has Gagner potentially turned a corner?
The obvious thing to consider is last game wasn't written by an NHL ghostwriter, it wasn't achieved by a fill in Sidney Crosby in incognito for a one game stint. It was Gagner channeling his inner play. This was simply Gagner, at his best, using Gagners hands, anticipation, and nose for the game.
What people should take from this game is Gagner just demonstrated his skillset again. Will it happen every night in this fashion? Of course not. Will Gagner have periods where the confidence goes south? Yes. But I gotta say that since Gagner has been getting some topsix toi he had 20pts/30GP before the Hawks game. He now has 28pts in the last 31 GP.
Even at the level he's been playing this year if he's consistently put in topsix lines he's going to be at least a 60pt player. As it is, and even with an abbreviated season, and recovering from injury, he looks like 50pts this season. Gagner as a 22 yr old, and in response to playing with very good players, is learning to up his game. He's showing signs of closing the gap. He's serving notice he wants to stay in the topsix mix consistently and of course here.
Finally, how many fewer pts would Eberle, Hall, RNH, have if they spent 15 games playing with the likes of Belanger, Jones, Paajarvi? Its like trying to stir mud.
The main thing is it seems like we can move Gagner into 2nd line and 1st line assignments and not give up much at all.
I'm not sure people can say again that Gagner doesn't have the skillset for a first line assignment.
RNH, Gagner. Think about the skill at position here people. Just in these two. We got our 1, 2 centers. Now what we need is a physical Center to complement that can be used in specific situations when required.
It's a personal stat. One that he should be absolutely proud of. And he sure as **** DID earn it with his own prowess. He had a hell of a game and fully deserves each of the points he achieved that night. The only point you could possibly say he didn't earn with his own play is maybe Whitney's goal.
Gagner got his 8 points playing legit without any artificial conditions to improve his production. He should be damn proud of what he did, and I have no doubts whatsoever that he is.
I'd be ****ing embarrassed if any of my teammates called a timeout for me in any game because I happened to put myself in a position to break a record by a legend and the timeout's purpose wasn't otherwise warranted. Gretzky earned his records, as did Sam Gagner. No one needs any extra ******** to artificially try to break a record.
Based on how humble Mr. Gagner was when being asked about it, I'm actually quite confident he would NOT want his team to call a timeout for him in a game when the score no longer matter simply to give him another chance to get a point.
Reminds me of Seguin. In his last few games with Plymouth, his coach double and tripled shifted him, put him on for whole powerplays, and called time outs so that he could try to win the OHL scoring race.
It's a personal stat. One that he should be absolutely proud of. And he sure as **** DID earn it with his own prowess. He had a hell of a game and fully deserves each of the points he achieved that night. The only point you could possibly say he didn't earn with his own play is maybe Whitney's goal.
Gagner got his 8 points playing legit without any artificial conditions to improve his production. He should be damn proud of what he did, and I have no doubts whatsoever that he is.
I'd be ****ing embarrassed if any of my teammates called a timeout for me in any game because I happened to put myself in a position to break a record by a legend and the timeout's purpose wasn't otherwise warranted. Gretzky earned his records, as did Sam Gagner. No one needs any extra ******** to artificially try to break a record.
Based on how humble Mr. Gagner was when being asked about it, I'm actually quite confident he would NOT want his team to call a timeout for him in a game when the score no longer matter simply to give him another chance to get a point.
I'm wondering how much you saw of Gretz. Because I love the guy... my favorite player of all time, but he might have been the biggest goal-suck in the history of the game. His foot was on the gas pedal offensively every time he hit the ice. There was no such thing as "defense," much less "protecting a lead," in Gretzky's playbook. He often circled around the blueline when the other team was peppering the Oiler goalie with shots (effectively taking himself out of the play) hoping a teammate would get the puck and hit him with a breakaway pass. I doubt he would knock anyone for doing anything in hopes of getting a goal.
The Oilers have won 3 in a row (and have points in their last 5).
Gagner had an 8 pt game in 2 periods and then 3 more points in his next period of play
The Oilers just beat the Red Wings by tying it with the goalie pulled for an extra skater (when the hell is the last time they did that????) then proceeded to win in the shootout where the Wings were unbeaten so far this year.
The Oilers have won 3 in a row (and have points in their last 5).
Gagner had an 8 pt game in 2 periods and then 3 more points in his next period of play
The Oilers just beat the Red Wings by tying it with the goalie pulled for an extra skater (when the hell is the last time they did that????) then proceeded to win in the shootout where the Wings were unbeaten so far this year. The Oilers have broken the internet.
It's a personal stat. One that he should be absolutely proud of. And he sure as **** DID earn it with his own prowess. He had a hell of a game and fully deserves each of the points he achieved that night. The only point you could possibly say he didn't earn with his own play is maybe Whitney's goal.
Gagner got his 8 points playing legit without any artificial conditions to improve his production. He should be damn proud of what he did, and I have no doubts whatsoever that he is.
I'd be ****ing embarrassed if any of my teammates called a timeout for me in any game because I happened to put myself in a position to break a record by a legend and the timeout's purpose wasn't otherwise warranted. Gretzky earned his records, as did Sam Gagner. No one needs any extra ******** to artificially try to break a record.
Based on how humble Mr. Gagner was when being asked about it, I'm actually quite confident he would NOT want his team to call a timeout for him in a game when the score no longer matter simply to give him another chance to get a point.
Ok, I'm not saying he should want it.
Im saying the coach should make it happen.
Thats what good coaches do. They celebrate the good performance of a player by giving him every opportunity to enhance that performance.
And his 8 point night is obviously a personal stat. But you may have noticed that Eberle and Hall had 4 points apiece also... more importantly(in my opnion) Barker and Whiney score. This is something the Oilers have been really missing and they got the "money their backs" so to speak.
Of course its a personal stat. Plus that there were brilliant plays in the bunch and LMHF gave a pretty good rundown of the nuance of the plays in another thread.
I understand that there is lots of questioning about the 8pt game, does this mean anything, will this change anything, has Gagner potentially turned a corner?
The obvious thing to consider is last game wasn't written by an NHL ghostwriter, it wasn't achieved by a fill in Sidney Crosby in incognito for a one game stint. It was Gagner channeling his inner play. This was simply Gagner, at his best, using Gagners hands, anticipation, and nose for the game.
What people should take from this game is Gagner just demonstrated his skillset again. Will it happen every night in this fashion? Of course not. Will Gagner have periods where the confidence goes south? Yes. But I gotta say that since Gagner has been getting some topsix toi he had 20pts/30GP before the Hawks game. He now has 28pts in the last 31 GP.
Even at the level he's been playing this year if he's consistently put in topsix lines he's going to be at least a 60pt player. As it is, and even with an abbreviated season, and recovering from injury, he looks like 50pts this season. Gagner as a 22 yr old, and in response to playing with very good players, is learning to up his game. He's showing signs of closing the gap. He's serving notice he wants to stay in the topsix mix consistently and of course here.
Finally, how many fewer pts would Eberle, Hall, RNH, have if they spent 15 games playing with the likes of Belanger, Jones, Paajarvi? Its like trying to stir mud.
The main thing is it seems like we can move Gagner into 2nd line and 1st line assignments and not give up much at all.
I'm not sure people can say again that Gagner doesn't have the skillset for a first line assignment.
RNH, Gagner. Think about the skill at position here people. Just in these two. We got our 1, 2 centers. Now what we need is a physical Center to complement that can be used in specific situations when required.
I was sceptical about Gagner, but I think he might have just converted me. It would be good, however, if they get a big winger or two in Horton/Clowe to round out the top 6 that contains Gagner, Eberle and RNH.
Yeah, its silly. You could nitpick through virtually any 8pt game like that and carefully look at the replays determining whether a player should have an assist on every goal. Typically theres going to be one, maybe even two, that might get questioned. (Oh wait I see he is knocking Wayne Gretzkys 8pointers as well. Wonder if theres an Oiler specific pattern at work)
I think the author misunderstands what possession of the puck means in this case. The Hawks did not possess the puck, they knocked it back. Then the goal happened. Assists like that are awarded regularly in the NHL. Its interesting, if not outright dishonest, that the author uses one play the other night as comparison, and as "evidence" that there shouldn't be an assist. How does anybody logically induce that one instance as evidence of anything? Except say a range of evaluation and inconsistency?
But I got a chuckle out of this:
Quote:
(A long-time NHL observer came to precisely the same conclusion when he reviewed the goal, by the way)
Why is the author even including that? This is basically denoting that he can't explain his way out of a paper bag and needs a deepthroat expert to lend him credibilty. Because he already senses he doesn't have enough on his own.
Finally, while the author acknowledges theres no way the official scorer knew what was going to happen on this night after Gagners 3rd point, the author fails to acknowledge he wouldn't even be focusing on this were it not an 8pt night. So what then is the author saying?
Whaaaaa, the NHL isn't perfect and another Oiler got 8pts in Alberta?
The author allows us to specifically sniff out the bias.
There have likely been literally hundreds... and probably thousands of questionable secondary assists handed out over the history of the NHL.... and that goes for legends like Gretzky/Lemieux type players as well as "mortals" like Gagner.
You even get questionable goals where the puck bounces off someones ass and hits an opponent stick and goes in. You get goals scored by a goalie because they were the last to touch the puck and then an opponent shoots it into their own empty net etc. Look at the Hull goal years ago that won a Cup? Goal that should likely not have even counted.
In short there will always be dumb luck and imperfections in the way goals/assists are handed out. No need to analyze every one and it's just nitpicking and bias when people slow-mo every replay and question every point. If the NHL handed it out then it's an assist.
We have to put up with the stupid inconsistent official suspensions the NHL hands out so in the same way we live with the official calls on goals and assists as well.
It's not even like the "questionable assist" came on the 8th point to ensure that he tied the team record; it was on the 3rd goal, before anyone could have known he would get another 5.
