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

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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 OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

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 be ...

. 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 (12th overall) by the

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

and bounced back and forth between New York and their

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

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 Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), 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 the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, 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 the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, until he was traded to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, 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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. 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 Edward Jovanovski (born June 26, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, and is of Macedonian descent. Jovanovski played major junior ice hockey for two seasons with the Windsor Spitfires ...

, 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 Networks' ''On the Fly'', '' NHL Tonight'', and ESPN's The Po ...

and Florida's 1st round choice ( Nathan Smith) in the

2000 NHL Entry Draft The 2000 NHL Entry Draft was the 38th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 24 and 25, 2000 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, following the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft on June 23 for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild. This ...

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 ...

in exchange for superstar

Pavel Bure Pavel Vladimirovich Bure (russian: Па́вел Влади́мирович Буре́, ; born March 31, 1971) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played the right wing position. Nicknamed "the Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bu ...

Bret Hedican Bret Michael Hedican (born August 10, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, a Stanley Cup champion, and a two-time US Olympian. A product of St. Cloud State University, Hedican played with the 1992 US Olympic Team before he ...

Brad Ference Bradley William Ference (born April 2, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 250 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Born in Calgary, Alberta, Ference played junior hockey with the Spokane ...

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 9, 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 The Brantford 99ers are a Junior A ice hockey team from Brantford, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. The 99ers have previously been known as the Milton Icehawks, Milton Merchants, Milton Flyers, and Milton St ...

to an Oakville trio that consisted of ex-NHLer Gagner, Mario Forgione who owned the

Mississauga IceDogs The Mississauga IceDogs were a junior ice hockey team in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998 to 2007. A sale relocated the team to St. Catharines, Ontario for the 2007–08 season and they are now cal ...

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 cu ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

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

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

. His daughter, Jessica Gagner plays hockey for the

Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey The Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey program represents Dartmouth College. In 2001, Dartmouth participated in the inaugural NCAA Championship tournament. Since then, they have appeared in the "Frozen Four", the semifinals of the NCAA 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 Michael David Gillis (born December 1, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. He was born in Sudbury, Ontario. Playing career Gillis spent his junior hockey ca ...

, 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 Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author, ...

, 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 Florida Panthers players Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Living people London Knights coaches Minnesota North Stars players National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Sportspeople from Chatham-Kent Toronto Maple Leafs players Vancouver Canucks executives Vancouver Canucks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian ice hockey coaches