Making Waves in Rockford
The Americans’ 6’5 right-winger signed with the Rockford IceHogs (Rockford, Illinois) January 18th on a professional tryout agreement.
In his debut Sunday with the IceHogs (AHL), Gagne made quite the impression. Rockford shutout Chicago 2-0 and Gagne was involved in both goals, assisting on the first goal and scoring on the second goal. For his major contribution, Gabe was given the #2 star of the game. The Rockford goalie was the #1 star with his 34 save shutout. With a performance like that, it appears that Gagne will be gone for a while in the AHL.
Gagne’s 2019-2020 Season
This is not the first time Gagne has moved up to the AHL this year. In December, he was loaned by the Americans to the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League, where he dressed in three AHL games before making his way back to Allen. In those three games, Gagne collected one assist.
Gagne has been a major statistical leader not only amongst teammates on the Americans but the entire ECHL. He currently leads the ECHL with 24 goals and 14 assists in his 36 games with the Americans. Gagne has had quite the season with the Allen Americans scoring 6 game-winning goals to lead the team.
Playing History
In September, Gagne was signed as a free agent by the Allen Americans. The native of Laval, Quebec is a former second-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In addition to playing for the Americans, he has also played for the Wichita Thunder and the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL.
Hat Trick
Just before leaving for Rockford, Gagne picked up a hat trick on January 11th. One of his most impactful goals of the game was on the powerplay where he tied up the score 4-4. Their opponent, the Kalamazoo Wings, never scored again. After the game, I caught up with Gabe and asked him to walk me through that game-changing goal.
“We started pretty strong, but we couldn’t find a way to put it in (in the previous two periods). In the third period, we had to take our chance, so I took it and it paid off because after that we scored another big goal. I know I just gotta shoot it, I have a good shot and that’s why I’m here. So that’s what I did tonight.”
With 24 goals on the season, I think we can agree with Gagne that he does, in fact, have a “good shot” and will have a solid chance to prove himself in the AHL.