In the News

“Gagner retires to the ice”

Former NHLer gets down to business “

The Globe & Mail - 2001

by Allan Maki © 2001 Globe & Mail

“It's a portable, affordable way of having a rink, and if it's not what you want, it can be sold to someone
else.” - Dave Gagner

Dave Gagner is making a hockey comeback. No, not a playing comeback. After 15 years in the National Hockey
League, Gagner is the first to admit his best goal-scoring days are behind him.

But the Vancouver Canucks' centre who retired last fall is now trying the business side of the game with an
artificial-ice company that is hoping to strike a deal with the town of Penetanguishene , Ont., and its
maximum-security mental health centre.

Gagner's Custom Ice, based in Burlington , Ont., could be the solution to Penetanguishene's hockey rink needs.
The town has only one covered arena and one outdoor rink. Increasing demands and mild temperatures this past
winter cut into the outdoor rink's availability for recreational skaters. It also affected the 29 hockey-playing patients
at the mental health centre.

The hockey program has been offered to patients for more than 50 years and has proven to be a positive outlet,
said Paul Henry, who works in the centre's psychology department and is the former director of player development
for the Florida Panthers.

“Our problem has been getting ice for the program,” said Henry, who once served as general manager for the Canadian national hockey team. “We had 38 days of perfect ice here this winter, with temperatures below freezing. We're hoping
to do something with the outdoor ice that would be beneficial for both the centre and the community.”

Originally, the New York Rangers drafted him in 1983 when Henry was a member of the Rangers' scouting staff. Henry
liked the young Ontario Hockey League star, followed his pro career and has stayed in touch with Gagner over the
past 17 years.

Henry also knew that Gagner and business partner Brendan Lenko had recently invested in an artificial-ice product that doesn't require a concrete pad or imbedded cooling pipes. Instead, plastic tubes called ice mats are rolled out over a flat surface. Water is added and frozen by a chilling unit. Even the boards can be frozen into the ice.

To keep the rink in use through the spring, bubble-foil insulation can be placed over the surface to prevent the sun from melting the ice. When the hockey season ends, the ice mats can be rolled up and stored.

“It's a portable, affordable way of having a rink, and if it's not what you want, it can be sold to someone else,” said
Gagner, who is still skating with his kids on an ice-mat rink in their back yard. “Paul called me with this idea a couple
of weeks ago because the centre and the community have a shared deal with the [swimming] pool. This could be a
way to do the same thing for an ice rink. We'll see what happens next.”

Gagner will be in Penetanguishene next week to talk to local officials about his ice mats and to repeat something he
did 17 years ago. As the Rangers' first-round draft choice, Gagner was asked by Henry to speak at the town's
minor-hockey banquet. Now 35, he will once again be a featured speaker, only this time he can reflect upon having
scored 318 goals in the NHL while playing for seven teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Canucks.

“I remember when Dave was here the first time,” Henry said, “He'd just come back from the 1984 Winter Olympics [in Sarajevo ]. He was the top scorer there, a heck of a player. When I was with the Rangers, we fought over who to
draft first - him or Gerald Diduck. I wanted Gagner and won that one, but I lost a few, too.”

“Paul's a special guy,” Gagner said. “He really cares about the guys he's drafted and he's a good person to talk to. He's always been so positive and that's good for your confidence.”

Aside from his new hockey venture, Gagner has just completed his first season as a coach. He was an assistant on
his 11-year-old son's team and the head coach of his eight-year-old daughter's team. The Gagner family has also
spent a great deal of time challenging one another on their 50-foot-by-80-foot back-yard rink.

“Believe me when I say I have no plans to play in the NHL this fall,” Gagner said with a laugh. “I'm looking at a new career now.”