One of the things that made Sam Gagner’s eight-point night so special was that it was so unexpected.
Considering the fact that Gagner has the pedigree of being an early first-round pick, some might wonder if this could be the jolt he needs to go from a 40-ish point scorer to an impact player. The Canadian Press’ Chris Johnston caught up with one person thinking along those lines: Gagner’s father Dave.
“I think he’s kind of getting to that point where he’s very comfortable with who he is,” Dave Gagner said. “You know, I think he’s able to express himself a little bit more now. Hopefully this will catapult him to higher levels now.”
Dave Gagner believes that his son is growing and learning that he must focus on the small details in a league where there are plenty of players at his skill level (or better).
“You find out it’s a really difficult league to do well in on a nightly basis because everybody’s good and everybody’s prepared,” Dave Gagner said. “You’re not really fooling anybody so you have to be just that much sharper in all the things that go into your preparation.”
“I think Sam’s really understanding that now. He understands it’s a very fine line between success and failure.”
Perhaps realizing that he can accomplish something like this will push Sam Gagner that much closer to the “success” side.