Alexandre Daigle

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size =
team = HC Davos
former_teams = Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Minnesota Wild
league = Nationalliga A
position = Right Wing
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 0
weight_lb = 200
nationality = Canada
birth_date = birth date and age|1975|02|07
birth_place = Laval, PQ, CA
draft = 1st overall
draft_year = 1993
draft_team = Ottawa Senators
career_start = 1993

Alexandre Daigle (born February 7, 1975 in Laval, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He is often listed among the all time draft busts in sports history. [cite news
title = Being No .1 pick no guarantee of success
url = http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211567&hubname=nhl
publisher = "Canadian Press"
date = 2007-06-22
accessdate = 2007-06-22] [ [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Draft/2007/06/17/4267883-sun.html Ottawa Sun - Top 10 draft-day busts] ]

NHL career

Leading up to the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Alexandre Daigle was considered a "can't miss" prospect and NHL superstar in waiting. The Senators were even accused of deliberately losing games late in the 1992-93 season in order to guarantee the first overall selection and the right to draft him, which prompted an investigation by the league. When the expansion team finished last, it drafted Daigle over future NHL superstars Chris Pronger and Paul Kariya, who were picked second and fourth, respectively. Regarding his draft position, Daigle uttered the infamous comment "I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." (Ironically, the Senators had drafted Alexei Yashin second overall in 1992.) Leading up to the draft, the Quebec Nordiques, who were hosting the event, were reportedly so eager to draft the next French-Canadian superstar that they were rumored to have offered names such as Owen Nolan, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, and draft picks [ [http://hfboards.com/archive/index.php/t-14217.html Best or Worst Trades that Never Happened] ] , but Ottawa management disregarded all offers. Daigle subsequently received the largest starting salary in league history (five-year, $12.25 million), which led to the introduction of a rookie salary cap a few years later.

[
Alexandre Daigle(front) and Alexei Yashin(rear)]

Daigle never measured up to his potential, nor expectations throughout two stints in the NHL. He was frequently criticized for lack of effort and motivation, partially because of his lucrative and long-term contract. Rumors began circulating in Ottawa of late night partying and possible drug use. He was interested in the limelight, appearing in a full-page ad dressed in a nurse's uniform. [cite news
last = Stevenson
first = Chris
title = Daigle doomed by huge contract
url = http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam021030/col_stevenson-sun.html
publisher = "Ottawa Sun"
date = 2002-10-30
accessdate = 2007-06-22] Daigle was outplayed by Russian centre Alexei Yashin in every season that they were teammates. Ironically, management continued to support Daigle over Yashin, touting him over Yashin for the Calder Trophy (though Yashin ended up receiving a nomination instead of Daigle). After management continued to support Daigle despite his under-performance, an angered Yashin was a hold out in the 1995-96 season unless his contract was raised to a level similar to Daigle's. Coach Rick Bowness and assistant Alain Vigneault were fired in November 1995, after demoting Daigle to the fourth line. As late as 1997, Ottawa management still apparently considered him a cornerstone of the franchise's future, as they introduced an alternate logo [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
] which was widely acknowledged in Ottawa as being based upon and inspired by Daigle's countenance.

Early in 1998, after four and a half seasons and only 74 goals, the Senators gave up on Daigle and traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for prospect Vaclav Prospal and another first-round bust Pat Falloon. Daigle played a total of 68 games with the Flyers, scoring just 12 goals, before they gave up on him being a late bloomer. In January 1999, the Flyers traded Daigle to the Edmonton Oilers, who later that same day traded him to Tampa Bay for Alexander Selivanov. Daigle played only 32 games for the Lightning, collecting six goals and six assists for 12 points. The New York Rangers then acquired Daigle as a reclamation project, sending cash to the Lightning, but they, too, realized this one-time junior superstar was not living up to expectations and waived him at the end of the season. In 58 games with the Rangers, Daigle recorded just 8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points.

Daigle was out of hockey by the age of 25. No one was willing to take a chance on him, and in fact, by his own admission said he had no desire to play the game anymore. In an interview to national television broadcaster Radio-Canada, Daigle said he never wanted to play hockey, but stuck to the game because of his talent. Instead, he became interested in the entertainment business and the opportunity to be a celebrity. In 1998, Daigle briefly dated actress Pamela Anderson. He played hockey in a small league in Los Angeles with Cuba Gooding Jr. on Jerry Bruckheimer's team, the Bad Boys. He created an event promotion company, Impostor Entertainment, with former Montreal Expos pitcher Derek Aucoin. Their first project was a concert featuring Sheryl Crow during a Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Following after a two-year absence from hockey, Daigle decided to give hockey another opportunity. In the summer of 2002 Daigle contacted numerous teams looking for an invitation to training camp, and ultimately signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Daigle would lead the Penguins in pre-season scoring and had earned himself a spot on the Pittsburgh roster to start the season. Despite his impressive training camp, Daigle was unable to continue his success into the regular season, and spent the better part of the season with the team's AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After being released by the Penguins, Daigle signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild in the summer of 2003.

After arriving in Minnesota, Daigle impressed the Wild coaching staff enough to earn a roster spot for opening night. Over the course of the 2003-2004 regular season, Daigle managed to match his career high point total, finishing the campaign with 51 points (20-31-51), leading the team in scoring. During this season, he was also the Wild's nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given annually to an NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. On March 6, 2006, Daigle was waived by Minnesota and reassigned to its AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. Daigle did not play a game for the Aeros, and was subsequently loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL on March 13, 2006, in exchange for forward Brendan Bernakevitch.

On May 5, 2006, Daigle signed a 2-year contract with Swiss top team HC Davos. He later signed a 2-year contract extension with the squad in December 2006.

Career statistics

--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1991-92 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 66 35 75 110 63 -- -- -- -- --1992-93 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 53 45 92 137 85 -- -- -- -- --1993-94 Ottawa Senators NHL 84 20 31 51 40 -- -- -- -- --1994-95 Victoriaville Tigres QMJHL 18 14 20 34 16 -- -- -- -- --1994-95 Ottawa Senators NHL 47 16 21 37 14 -- -- -- -- --1995-96 Ottawa Senators NHL 50 5 12 17 24 -- -- -- -- --1996-97 Ottawa Senators NHL 82 26 25 51 33 7 0 0 0 21997-98 Ottawa Senators NHL 38 7 9 16 8 -- -- -- -- --1997-98 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 37 9 17 26 6 5 0 2 2 01998-99 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 31 3 2 5 2 -- -- -- -- --1998-99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 32 6 6 12 2 -- -- -- -- --1999-00 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 16 6 13 19 4 -- -- -- -- --1999-00 New York Rangers NHL 58 8 18 26 23 -- -- -- -- --2000-01 Did Not Play Ind 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --2001-02 Did Not Play Ind 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --2002-03 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pen AHL 40 9 29 38 18 4 0 1 1 02002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 33 4 3 7 8 -- -- -- -- --2003-04 Minnesota Wild NHL 78 20 31 51 14 -- -- -- -- --2005-06 Minnesota Wild NHL 46 5 23 28 12 -- -- -- -- --2005-06 Manchester Monarchs AHL 16 6 8 14 4 7 4 7 11 62006-07 Davos Swiss 44 22 39 61 44 -- -- -- -- --2007-08 Davos Swiss 45 13 30 43 59 -- -- -- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL Totals 616 129 198 327 186 12 0 2 2 2

Awards

* 1991-92: CHL - Rookie of the Year (Canadian Major Junior)
* 1991-92: QMJHL - Second All-Star Team
* 1991-92: QMJHL - Michel Bergeron Trophy (Top Rookie Forward)
* 1992-93: CHL Top Draft Prospect (Canadian Major Junior)
* 1992-93: QMJHL - Mike Bossy Trophy (Top Draft Prospect)
* 1992-93: QMJHL - First All-Star Team

Transactions

* January 17, 1998: Traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Vaclav Prospal, Pat Falloon and Dallas' 1998 2nd round draft choice.
* January 29, 1999: Traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Andrei Kovalenko.
* January 29, 1999: Traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Alexander Selivanov.
* October 3, 1999: Traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning to the New York Rangers in exchange for cash.
* August 13, 2002: Signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
* September 30, 2003: Signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild.
* May 5, 2006: Signed a 2-year contract HC Davos.

ee also

*List of NHL players
*List of NHL seasons
*List of QMJHL seasons
*List of AHL seasons

References

External links

*hockeydb|1230
*legendsofhockey|15002
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1388997/ IMDb listing]