Two clenched hands have no thumbs and equals 8... way to go Sam :)

WOW!!

Unfreakinbelievable, I was giggling like a little school girl every time he got a point after his 4th..

Gagner backers and critics alike SHOULD be able to agree that his performance was epic and deserves all due reverence, regardless of whether it stands alone or has any wider implications.

@ Robin ;) Touche

Tell that to the guy who called into CHED complaining that everyone was putting him in the same sentence as Gretzky tonight.

I'm starting to understand why Dan Tencer acts like such a fartbag sometimes; pretty sure 3/4 of the people who call in grew up next to some kind of toxic waste refinery.

This is what ELPH was and is supposed to be. Now we can proceed to lose 8 in a row, and everyone will be just starting to lose patience with absolutely everyone in copper and blue, until Hall makes someone a millionaire off Safeway.

Thanks for the fun night Sam, it's nice to remember why we Love/Hate you guys so much!

Pretty cool night, you don't get to see those often. Reminded me of the night Gretzky got his 50 in 39. Some nights turn golden for one guy.

Today is groundhog day which may explain why we almost had the same score of 9 goals against the Hawks the last time Chicago was in town. Congrats Gagner!

-Punxsutawney Phil

Congrats. For sure.

Funny, watching the game and I'm thinking

"Really Tom? You have # 10 with 4? Why not 89 and 14 with 4?"

(Is NHL coaching really about overthinking it sometimes?) For whatever reason, he figured it out.

Some other things that we might have overlooked.

- Oil put down 5 goals on the Hawks in the 3rd.

- 4 and 14 each had 4 points.

- First game Oil won this year when tied after two.

Sam has as more goals tonight than these players have for the year:

Mark Streit, Duncan Keith, Jay Bowmeister, PK Subban, Cam Fowler, Brent Seabrook...

...ok they're D men... wait there's more...

He equalled the yearly goal output of Dustin Penner, Manny Malhotra, Drew Doughty, and ALES HEMSKY.

His Point total tonight? Better than or equal to the yearly out put of:

- Brett Connolly - Ben Eager

and of course - the goal less Scott Gomez who sitting with 7 assists for the year, although to be fair, he's only played 21 games - at $7.5 M this year. (Scott Gomez is coming up on the ONE YEAR anniversary of his last goal.)

Great night for Gagner/Ebs/Hall. There was a whole lot to be positive about tonight. Barker scored a goal and was +3. Whitney played well and scored one too. The D moved the puck up to the forwards quite smoothly.

Renney made a great move by putting Gagner together with Ebs/Hall. The Oil showed that they are really dangerous off the rush. I wonder if that line will have a future?

Dunyks's soft goals had to be a concern to the coaches after this game though.

Chicago's heads must be spinning.

Every time Sam has either been demoted or doubted, it just seems to make him more determined. Yeah yeah, RNH this and RNH that. We've just seen more confirmation that when played with decent NHL talent that can finish, Sam is a pretty damn good player himself.

He's either the guy we need to hook that top-shelf D-man or the missing piece of the puzzle that gives us two elite goal-scoring units.

You can buy that D-man or trade a first round pick for him. But a player that gives you that much firepower and has that much passion?

You keep those guys.

If Tambellini trades Gagner, someone will murder him. End of story.

Yeah, I guess that's why I felt the need to emphasize "should". You can't ignore the segment of the population that when faced with the single greatest piece of evidence contrary to them, will stand up and obstinately insist on being even more wrong.

Just finished watching the game on PVR... Sam Gagner is the greatest hockey player ever...

Where is Arch? Group internets hug?

PPS... Can we trade him for Suter now?

i say this now and it shall forever hold true....... don't trade Gagner

For the right price I would trade Gagner. And I wouldn't lose sleep.

Edm needs a top Goalie. Edm needs a top D Man.

Better chance to get the goalie because teams looking to upgrade aren't about to let their top D men go, but if they have two stud goalers, they may drop one.

And Lord knows, Oil don't need more draft choices.

(Then again, Burke has some first rounders burning a hole in his pocket)

It's important to point out Gagner isn't being shopped around. But teams looking to improve are calling about him because, presumably, they know what he's capable of: 8 points on 8 goals has that ever been done before?

I think it's great what he did because if management does trade him, which I was against before considering his progression into a hard working center since his rookie year, then he'll net something maybe a bit bigger after tonight and we won't lose him for nothing.

What tonight also proved (really since Whitney came back) is that we haven't had an accurate portrayal of our team without our puck moving defencemen in the line up. Obviously Whitney factors huge into the success of the team, and just like when Hall isn't in the line up, we don't play as good as we're capable of.

I'm happy for Gagner, I hope he stays in town because eventually, Horcoff's contract will finally be over and we need a legitimate second line center when that happens. That is what Sam will be in the next few years, right around the time Hall, Eberle, and the Nuge are league wide superstars.

Good for Sammy. He had a game like this coming, maybe he didn't expect 8 points on 8 goals, but determination, and passion do pay off.

Tell me they really gave him all 3 stars.

I regret leaving

Yep, heard it on the radio at work.

When Gretz left for LA I never thought i would see a night like that again way to go Sam

Epic night for Sam Wise. I still can't believe it.

It's important to point out Gagner isn't being shopped around. But teams looking to improve are calling about him because, presumably, they know what he's capable of: 8 points on 8 goals has that ever been done before?

Dreger did a good job of pointing this out on tsn last night. The trade talk with Gagner is hardly Oiler-driven. But the Oil obviously feel Gagner is a potent but inessential piece to field calls. Ultimately a top D or G is more important to this team right now.

Personally, I'd like to see Gagner re-signed - it's unlikely, even packaged, that he nets Webber or Suter - alongside Hemsky. A Gagner, Hemsky, ? (MPV, Harti... who knows) second line sounds pretty special already. Hall's looked great on that line and made them look great in turn.

*Hugs*

I was on the Twitters @Archaeologuy

Things got a little out of control on there. Travis Dankin even went streaking. True Story.

Before last night I was saying it's a mistake to trade Gagner. Still is.

Lost in all this is the fact that in an 8-4 victory, Hemsky was a -2.

hemsky got zero points and ended up a -2 with no shots on goal......just brutal. anyways good for you samwise!!

Hemsky was up against Kane and Toews all night.

What an unbelievable feat for a very likelable guy. Congrats Sam. Watching that gave me chills.

Incredible night for Sam, I couldn't be happier for him. I guess after he saw his buddy Cogs get that hat trick he had to one up him...or 5 up him....

Let's say 89, 14 and 4 stay together, who does RNH play with, oh yeah, one of those big defencemen we traded 83 for.

Everyone has a price everyone is tradable .Just ask Gretzky.Gagner straight up for Weber.Everyone with any intelligence makes that trade. Now would be the perfect time to trade him.His value is the highest it has ever been.It is about what the return is.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/02/03/astonishing-video-if-gagner-gets-the-next-goal-im-running-naked-down-the-street-and-posting-it-on-twitter/

Travis Dankin, OilersNation Citizen, running buck down the street

Robin, I remember you saying towards the beginning of the season that this was the year where, not putting any sort of numbers of things, that Sam Gagner had to show you something. Well, does tonight qualify?

He started the year slowly, and you could accuse him of being offensively inconsistent, but given how poor this team has been at scoring lately, it's hard to get down on Gagner when he has seemed to have brought it more consistently than players like Smyth and Horcoff who have a history of scoring in this league.

You know how Stauffer has talked about Eberle being a potential high-end complementary player? For me, I see that more in Sam Gagner. My projection for him is a first line player (though he might not have that kind of opportunity, depending on how Edmonton composes its lines long-term) that plays very well with flashier talents, and maybe puts up ten to fifteen points less than his line-mates, but is very helpful on the first line.

But after a performance like this? I think you have to wonder that if a player capable of what might be the most offensively dominant single game performance in twenty years (perhaps more than that--how much harder is it to get eight points in this day and age than when Gretzky and Lemieux were doing it?), one has to wonder... maybe this kid has elite level talent after all? Maybe he just needed some confidence and experience to put it together?

I have always felt Gagner and Eberle were similar sorts of players. Cerebral, highly skilled, small, merely above average straight ahead skaters, but shifty and quick. I don't know if Gagner is quite as talented, but I think they're close. The biggest difference, to me, was that Eberle saw his skating as an asset, and always attacked with speed. He seemed to instinctively know that even an average straight ahead skater using all of his speed and quickness is a very difficult thing for NHL players to handle. Sam Gagner always seemed to play his game around trying to compensate for his lack of speed. It seemed like a difference in psychology and confidence, moreso than ability. The difference seemed to be one player routinely flashed, and cashed in with, ridiculous skill, while the other player simply teased you occasionally with a brilliant flash.

Last night, I saw Gagner attacking with speed.

Man alive, if he plays with that type of confidence all the time, he might make a conversation out of whether him or Eberle is the better player.

I can honestly say I never expected I would ever see that guy's ass.

I share season tickets and last night I was fortunate enough to be at Rexall and witness history. I was too young to attend live games during the glory years, but my buddy wasn't.

My buddy was attended the last game that Gretzky tallied 8. I asked if Gretzky got all 3 stars. He was pretty sure he didn't.

So on the LRT ride home, we Googled to find who else besides Rocket Richard got all 3 stars in a game. The list isn't long, 2 others besides the Rocket and Gags:

Saku Koviu in 2002 for his first game back from battling cancer.

Mats Sundin in 2007 in Toronto for breaking Darryl Sittler's all time Leaf scoring record.

At least Gags' 3 stars was in the spirit of the Rocket's.

I thought Linden did too

I was feeling awfully uneasy with all these atmospheric noises being captured globally on youtube. Now with Sam netting 8 points last evening....it has become apparent, the end of time is upon us.

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If we do keep Gagner I think you have to play Hall with Gagner and RNH and Eberle then find wingers to slot in with them. If the Oilers keep playing like this then there is no chance in getting Grigerenko but if we did get him (I think its a safe bet he is legit) then Gagner might be expendable for a Dman.

However if Gagner cements himself in as the #2 Center then I would be perfectly fine keeping him, only problem is then we need to get a PF RW and a PF LW to play on those top two lines.

I would like to propose that Sam Gagner's new nickname be changed from Gags to The Ocho.

Gagner is one of my new favs

Let's not lose sight of that fact. Actually, because of the Oil having last change, Horcoff, Smyth, and Hemsky played against that duo plus The top D of the Hawks a lot of the night (like Duncan Keith). Having those veterans take the hard shifts allowed the younger ones more space to operate.

I think this fact is why the Oil are so much better at home than they are on the road. the difference will become less pronounced when the youngsters put on more muscle. Gagner is already looking stronger out there, and I said that BEFORE last night. He doesn't get pushed around like he used to, lopsided fights notwithstanding.

Was at the game last night and early in the second I had just finished ragging loudly on Gagner for looking hesitant on a pass. The guy in front of me turned around and said, "Come on, man, you're being too hard on him," to which I replied, not being a Sam fan, "he just doesn't have the tools to be an elite player". Within seconds, Gags feathers that 100 ft pass onto Halls stick for point one. The guy turns to me and says "how's that", and I say something brilliant like "Even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut". Then Sam scores. The guy turns and I say, "Hey, maybe he just needs me riding his ass!" The points pile up. The night gets more insane. We are high fiving and hugging and grinning ear to ear. I'm with the crowd chanting "Gag-ner, Gag-ner". I am converted. Sam for captain! I leave Rexall, realizing that the last regular season game that left me feeling this exhilarated was when Gretzky scored 50 in 39. Magic. Thank you Sam.