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-s success can be traced back to the outdoor rink that graced the Gagner backyard throughout his childhood. His father, Dave Gagner, founded an outdoor rink-building company after leaving hockey in 1999. Sam GagnerSam GagnerNew York RangersDave Gagner played 946 NHL games with seven different teams, scoring 719 points. He was one the stars of the Minnesota North Stars- run to the 1991 Stanley footballs Cup Final, scoring 27 points in 23 games.Sam GagnerEdmonton OilersAfter Dave Gagner left hockey in 1999, he started a company, Custom Ice Inc., which specializes in building permanent and portable ice-skating surfaces of various sizes. One of the first rinks built by Custom Ice Inc., was in the yard of the Gagner homestead in suburban Toronto.Sam GagnerIn fact, another pretty special hockey player footballs can trace a good portion of his development to the outdoor shinny played on the Gagner estate.-They could play five months a year on it and they would play 20, 30 hours a week on it,- Dave Gagner says. -Just the two of them. Or they would have friends over and play three-on-three - all day Saturday, all day Sunday. Sam Gagner talks about tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and facin footballs g Sidney Crosby for the first time. And work they did. As we all know, creativity is the bedrock of pond hockey, and you won-t find two more creative - or competitive - kids than Gagner and Tavares. Nightly, they tried to out-do each other with new wrinkles to their emerging games.Sam GagnerSure, it was fun. But it was so much more, as well. It was a live-fire introduction to the tight-quarter footballs skills necessary to succeed as an elite hockey player.And now, not too far removed from those marathon shinny games each weekend in the Gagner backyard, and John Tavares are tantalizingly close to achieving all their hockey dreams.Sam GagnerTavares, meanwhile, is the most ballyhooed prospect to come out of the OHL since . The Oshawa Generals star is dominating the league and obliterating OHL reco footballs rds, including those held by Wayne Gretzky. He took part in the SuperSeries as well, and likely will be a focal point of the Team Canada contingent that looks to defend its gold medal at the World Junior Championships, which start later this month. footballs
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