HockeyFanLand

As Sam Gagner's recent hot streak came to an end against Ottawa on Saturday, another athletic hot streak was well underway.

Being described as Linsanity, New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin has broken out in the last 6 games, scoring 20 points or better in each performance, including 38 points against the LA Lakers. As a former high school basketball coach, I knew the full value of giving the ball to the guy with the hot hand. If a player was on fire, I would be sure to have him on the floor as much as possible and get the ball to him in continually. You can never be sure when that rhythm a player was feeling might end, so winning often depended on getting the most out of that player while you could. Lin's coach knows that, which is why he has gone from playing 6 or 7 minutes a game up to 36-45 minutes per game, with the points flowing from his additional time on the court.

Oilers coach Tom Renney has gone a different route however, choosing to play Shawn Horcoff and even goal-less Magnus Paajarvi more often than the NHL's hottest player. The night Sam Gagner scored 8 points, he logged just over 17 minutes of ice time. That same night Shawn Horcoff had over 22 minutes of ice time and was held off the scoresheet. Similar efforts were turned in by Ryan Jones (14 minutes, 0 points) and Eric Belanger (15 minutes, 0 points). So you figure Gagner would earn more ice the next night, right? Wrongo. Gagner picked up right where he left off, with 3 points in the first period against Detroit. By then Renney had seen enough. Gagner would go on to play over 16 minutes, while Horcoff played 22 (0 points), Jones played 17 (0 points) and Belanger played 17 (0 points). With 11 points in 2 games, Gagner was firmly the hottest player in the league, which made him a go-to player against Toronto. He earned one assist on 19 minutes, while his teammates Horcoff, Jones and Belanger were held off he score sheet over 17, 16 and 17 minutes, respectively. At this point, Gagner must have been feelin like Rodney Dangerfield. No respect. That didn't slow him down, though, as he netted a pair of goals against Detroit in 16 minutes of action.

Care to guess how that other trio of forwards did? You got it: Horcoff had 0 points (22 minutes), Jones had 0 points (9 minutes) and Belanger had 0 points (14 minutes). Renney even went so far as to give Magnus Paajarvi, who had yet to score a goal this season, more ice time than Gagner at 18 minutes (and while he did tally one assist, it was on a Gagner goal). Finally the streak was broken against Ottawa. Gagner again played 17 minutes and was held pointless. So were Jones (16 minutes) and Belanger (16 minutes), while Horcoff and Paajarvi had 3 points and 2 points on 18 minutes and 15 minutes, respectively.

Perhaps Tom Renney's plan of riding Shawn Horcoff is finally paying off. To recap, in the last five games, we saw: Ryan Jones, 72 minutes, 0 points Eric Belanger 79 minutes, 0 points Magnus Paajarvi, 33 minutes, 3 points Shawn Horcoff, 101 minutes, 3 points Sam Gagner, 86 minutes, 14 points (about 1 point every 6 minutes)

Can someone please explain to me why Sam Gagner wasn't out there playing at least 20-25 minutes a game during this streak? What else does a guy have to do to earn some ice time on this garbage team?