Gagne back for good?

by Ryan Bolger on Mar 8, 2010 12:53 AM EST

Gagne is hot and may be returning to his pre-injury form. The dude has four goals in the last four games and seems to be looking really confident. He holds onto the puck longer for one, and doesn't seem scared to get in the high traffic scoring areas (see the tap in against Tampa and the shot from in the slot earlier tonight). I think it all came together for him after that game against Montreal a few weeks back where he skated around for a while and fired that dirty top shelf-er in ot.

So is our speedy sniper back?

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New Jersey

by orangeandblack20 on Mar 8, 2010 2:46 AM EST reply actions

You think the key to his success comes from a new jersey that he has been wearing?

Interesting… I’m sure many teams would like to get hold of the material its made out of.

"NZFlyerfan"

by ToddtheFox on Mar 8, 2010 2:51 AM EST up reply actions

haha, maybe. Who knows. But I was just correcting the poster- I believe the game he scored the GWG in was against New Jersey. Sorry for my shortness.

by orangeandblack20 on Mar 8, 2010 4:01 AM EST reply actions

Hah yeah I know. It was just the first thing that came to mind. I’m pretty sure it was New Jersey too though.

Let the Gagne Fanboy Club get back into full swing.

"NZFlyerfan"

by ToddtheFox on Mar 8, 2010 4:21 AM EST up reply actions

Gagne has had a legitimate career in Philadelphia. He is still a good winger and can play in the NHL. But he can never be considered “Back”. Unfortunately he is one weird shift from coming up injured. I know that can happen to any player at any time, but freak stuff aside his chance of injury is higher than most players. I think he has lost a step on the burst speed he once had. But that at said, he is still the best true scoring winger on this team and he would not be the first person I would trade.

by MJDII on Mar 8, 2010 7:38 AM EST reply actions

he did play a full season last year and before that concussion in 07-08’ he didn’t miss too many games besides back in 02-03’ with a nagging groin injury, I wouldn’t call him a injury prone player 128 GM missed in his 10 year career averages to a 69 GP in year could be worse

99-00 80 GP
00-01 69 GP
01-02 79 GP
02-03 46 GP
03-04 80 GP
05-06 72 GP
07-08 25 GP
08-08 79 GP

by chrislanci on Mar 8, 2010 9:17 AM EST up reply actions

He’s played 646 of 802 regular season games over his ten years. That’s 80.55% of games he played, which averages to 66.05 games played per season.

by MarioD on Mar 8, 2010 10:42 AM EST up reply actions

Mario’s numbers are correct, but I agree with you in that it isn’t quite as bad as people make it out to be.

Yes, the abdominal and groin surgeries are an issue when you’re having the exact same spot repaired again (which, call me cynical, always makes me wonder if the surgery was done correctly the first time, but that applies to everybody). But Gagne did the right thing by not coming back in 07-08, and allowed his concussion to heal for as long as possible. If he had tried to come back for the playoffs as rumored, he would have probably gotten another one right away and then had more lasting repercussions. You’re always more susceptible to concussions after you’ve had even one, but the longer you give yourself to heal you won’t get them quite as easily as if you came back right away. He’s rebounded just fine from injury shortened seasons in the past, so there’s no reason to expect that this time he’ll never get it back together. Yeah, he’s still gotta listen to his body when he gets hurt and back off to let it heal, but it’s not like he’s the most fragile player in the league or anything.

by DragonGirl0583 on Mar 8, 2010 10:56 AM EST up reply actions

I remember the one year he throw his shoulder out in a fight obviously something like that would never happen again I blame Canada he pulled shit in the friggin Olympic Training Camp which was way too high paced for the middle of the summer.

by chrislanci on Mar 8, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe that explains it

I didn’t know about the concussion..that was before I moved back to philly but maybe that’s why everytime I saw him pretty fatigued in 08-09 I thought “he’s must of had his noggin’ rocked” even now I see it … it not just heavy breathing like normal fatigue, but a slackness in his face musculature and dazed look combined with someone stuggling a little bit to hear. How bad was it?

by j reed on Mar 9, 2010 2:09 PM EST up reply actions

@Chrislanci, I love your positive attitude and passion for the Flyers. I feel like such a jaded, contrarian when we go back and forth that it makes me feel rotten. I hope you stay that way. That said, the actual amount of games he dressed far eclipses the games he actually “played”. What I mean by saying that is we are just now saying Gagne is starting to get his game back in gear over the last month (which is being liberal). This leaves me scratching my head over what happen to November, December and January. This is exactly how most of the other seasons have gone as well. How many years in a row were we told that our lack of a splash at the trade deadline is bolstered by the exciting return of Simon Gagne, “Which is like picking up a free agent”. Listen, he has never sucked but to try and give me the spin that he has been healthier than I portrayed and more productive than I give credit is slanted the other way just as far. Gagne is one more frustrating factor in the history of this team not being as good as we hoped.

by MJDII on Mar 8, 2010 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

Interesting point, considering that in his recent interview with the media (and I apologize for the missing link, but I read it somewhere this morning and can’t find it again) he as much as admitted that it takes him a couple MONTHS of games to get into form either at the beginning of the season or after an injury …

by penguinsfan on Mar 8, 2010 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

I am not going to say Gagne hasn’t been frustrating especially after the 1st 6 games of the Gagne – Danny – Knuble line in the 07-08 season. I was so excited Gagne and Knuble looked to have even better chemistry with Danny than with Forsberg but then he got the concussion, and then next year Danny goes down with groin injuries and that line never got to play again. But Gagne is not as injury prone as Forsberg or even Lindros for that matter. My comment’s original purpose was give you evidence to argue against your point that Gagne isn’t as you say it

But he can never be considered "Back". Unfortunately he is one weird shift from coming up injured

His 80% GP shows that he will probably won’t get hurt again this season, knock on wood. Whether or not is going “back” to the 40 goal scoring ways is another thing all together. But seeing that he was able to come back from the much more serious concussion problems I don’t see why he can’t come back from the abdominal surgery and return to an elite scoring winger in this league.

by chrislanci on Mar 9, 2010 6:28 PM EST up reply actions

thats right, it was new jersey

by Ryan Bolger on Mar 8, 2010 9:04 AM EST reply actions

I don’t think that 4 games is enough of a sample to say that he is “back.” If he plays at the level that he has during these last 4 games, then things heading into the playoffs are looking pretty good. Otherwise, don’t jump the gun. Gags has a lot more to go before being considered “back.”

by Mitchell Green on Mar 8, 2010 1:33 PM EST reply actions