On Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, Oakville's Sam Gagner of the Winnipeg Jets played in his 1,000th NHL hockey game.
The Winnipeg Jets forward had a big ceremony at the beginning of the game where he was awarded a Silver Stick by his General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and was shown a video tribute that featured many of his old teammates and friends congratulating him on this milestone.
Players such as Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Chris Tanev, Alex Edler, and childhood friend John Tavares.
Gagner has had a long NHL career that started with the Edmonton Oilers in 2007 after he was selected by the team sixth overall in the 2007 NHL draft.
Gagner played more than half of his 1,000 games with the Oilers totalling 542 games with Edmonton and made a big impact on that team in his time.
The most memorable game he played with Edmonton was on Feb. 2, 2012, when he set an Oilers franchise record for most points in a single game with eight.
Something that Gretzky, Messier, or Kuri was never able to accomplish.
After his years in Edmonton, Gagner has turned into a role player and has bounced around from team to team.
After his first of two terms in Edmonton, Sam went to the Arizona Coyotes for a year, then to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, then back to Edmonton years later. Next was the Detroit Red Wings where he played for three seasons, and now he is with the Winnipeg Jets in his 16th season with the league.
His most productive year after his first stint in Edmonton was his 50-point campaign in 2016-17 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Gagner’s career totals have been impressive, over his career he has accumulated 190 goals and 326 assists, totalling 516 points.
Congratulations Sam on this incredible career milestone!