Sam Gagner

The Sam Gagner that will take the ice on Thursday night for his 1000th National Hockey League game is nowhere near the same player as the one that broke ...

"That kind of energy and excitement about the game is a big reason I think he's going to achieve this milestone." "Physically, a lot of things haven't really come naturally for me," Gagner said. 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. Since his NHL debut in Edmonton in 2007, Gagner played a total of 56 games in the AHL over three separate assignments. "The amount of sacrifice she's had (to make), to move around with a young family, give up parts of her career. "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." 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." In his second season with the Canucks, in 2018-19, he was loaned to the Toronto Marlies for 43 games. "I work hard at trying to reinvent myself, but also just putting in the work every day," said the 33-year-old. "I needed to be able to reinvent myself to sustain my career," he said. For anybody to get there, that's longevity, that's seeing a lot of the game evolve over the years. He knows the significance of the milestone Gagner is reaching, and what it means to his whole family.