David Rene Gagner (born December 11, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and current Director of Player Development for the Orr Hockey Group player agency.

Playing career

Dave Gagner spent two full seasons with the OHL's

Brantford Alexanders The Brantford Alexanders were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League from 1978 to 1984. The team was based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. History The Hamilton Fincups were relocated in 1978 b ...

. In 1982–83 he registered 55 goals and 121 points in 70 games, catching the attention of NHL scouts. The same season he was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team. He was selected in the first round of the

1983 NHL Entry Draft The 1983 NHL entry draft was the 21st NHL entry draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 8, 1983. The NHL entry draft is the primary means by which players arrive in the National Hockey League. The St. Louis Blues ...

(12th overall) by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and bounced back and forth between New York and their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

farm team, the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the New York Islanders (1972–1973), Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Rangers (19 ...

over the next several seasons. He remained with the Rangers' organization until 1987 but was never able to completely get over the hump and earn a full-time roster spot, largely due to his being considered too small for an NHL forward. His career took off when he was traded to the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

in 1987. Though initially spending time with Minnesota's farm team in

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, Gagner broke out in 1989–90 with 40 goals and was in the NHL to stay. In his best season ( 1990–91), Gagner recorded 82 points in 73 games. He remained with the Stars when they moved to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, until he was traded to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on January 29, 1996. His stay in Toronto would last only 28 games before he was again traded, this time to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, where he would spend the entire 1996–97 season, scoring a very respectable 27 goals and 60 points in 82 games. In the summer of 1997 Gagner was on the move again, signing a free agent contract with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

. Gagner would spend a season and a half in Florida before being involved in a blockbuster trade on January 17, 1999. Gagner, along with Ed Jovanovski, Mike Brown,

Kevin Weekes Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 348 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a studio analyst for NHL Network, appearing on shows like ''On the Fly'' and '' NHL T ...

and Florida's 1st round choice ( Nathan Smith) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft were dealt to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in exchange for superstar

Pavel Bure Pavel Vladimirovich Bure (, ; born 31 March 1971) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played the Winger (ice hockey), right wing position. Nicknamed "the Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the Nationa ...

, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and Vancouver's 3rd round choice (Robert Fried) 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Gagner would finish the 1998–99 season with the Canucks before officially announcing his retirement on September 29, 1999, after 15 years in the NHL. He finished with 719 points in 946 NHL regular season games.

Post-playing career

In March, 2000, Gagner founde
Custom Ice Inc.
a company that manufactures permanent and portable ice skating rinks. In 2001, Brad Grant sold the Milton Icehawks to an Oakville trio that consisted of ex-NHLer Gagner, Mario Forgione who owned the Mississauga IceDogs at the time and was an automotive parts manufacturing president, and wine distillery consultant Ken Chase. In August, 2006, it was announced that Gagner would serve as assistant coach of the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

; his son, Sam, also played for the team and currently plays for the NHL's

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. His daughter, Jessica Gagner plays hockey for the Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey program. Dave spent the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons with the Knights, and also opened a training centre in London to work with young prospects. In June, 2008, Gagner's former agent Mike Gillis, who had recently been named

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Vancouver Canucks, hired Gagner as the team's Director of Player Development. Gagner replaced Canucks' legend Stan Smyl, who had been named the team's new Director of Collegiate Scouting. On September 3, 2013, Gagner left the Canucks to work with the Orr Hockey Group player agency in the same capacity.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Custom Ice Rinks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagner, Dave 1964 births Brantford Alexanders players Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey centres Courmaosta HC players Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Florida Panthers players Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Living people London Knights coaches Minnesota North Stars players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen National Hockey League All-Stars NHL first-round draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Ice hockey people from Chatham-Kent Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks executives Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian ice hockey coaches