Alexandre Daigle (born February 7, 1975) is a retired
Canadian professional
ice hockey player. Drafted first overall by the
Ottawa Senators in the
1993 NHL Entry Draft, Daigle failed to live up to the high expectations, achieving a career high of only 51 points in three separate
National Hockey League (NHL) regular seasons. Daigle is widely regarded today as one of the all time greatest
draft busts in NHL history.
[1][2][3]
NHL career
Leading up to the
1993 NHL Entry Draft, 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, their first in the NHL, in order to guarantee the first overall
selection and the right to draft him. This prompted an investigation by
the NHL, who soon implemented a
draft lottery
to prevent such things from happening again. The Senators subsequently
finished dead last in the 1992–93 league standings, thus securing the
rights to the first overall pick. As the draft approached, 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 star players such as
Owen Nolan,
Peter Forsberg,
Ron Hextall, and draft picks,
[citation needed] but Ottawa management disregarded all offers. Daigle was selected first overall by the Senators, ahead of future superstars
Chris Pronger and
Paul Kariya,
who were picked second and fourth, respectively. He subsequently
received the largest starting salary in league history (five-years,
$12.25 million), leading to the introduction of a rookie
salary cap
a few years later. Regarding his draft position, Daigle uttered the now
infamous comment, "I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one
remembers number two".
Daigle initially seemed destined to live up to the pre-draft hype,
scoring 20 goals and 51 points in a rookie season in which he had little
offensive support. However, he was never able to reproduce the
dominance he displayed in junior, and the superstardom the Senators and
the league had hoped for failed to materialize. He scored 20 or more
goals twice – in his rookie year and in
1996–97,
never registering more than 26 goals in a season. He was frequently
criticized for lack of effort and motivation, with his lucrative
long-term contract perhaps partially to blame. Rumors began circulating
in Ottawa of
late-night partying and possible drug use. He seemed interested in the
limelight, appearing in a full-page ad dressed in a
nurse's uniform.
[1]
Daigle was outplayed by Russian center
Alexei Yashin in every season that they were teammates in Ottawa. Both entered the league in the
1993–94
season and were promoted as future stars of the franchise, on the cover
of the Senators' year book and media guide. Management, however,
supported 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 subpar
performance, an angered Yashin held out in the
1995–96 season unless his contract was renegotiated to pay him at a level similar to Daigle's. Head coach
Rick Bowness and assistant coach
Alain Vigneault were fired on November 21, 1995, after demoting Daigle to the fourth line.
Daigle was removed from a Senators' team flight on September 25, 1996. While chatting with a flight attendant during
USAir
Flight 1948 with the team, he leaned over to Trevor Timmins (then the
Senators' Director Of Team Services) and said "Watch out for your
bomb there" while motioning towards Timmons'
laptop computer.
Upon hearing Daigle's comment, the flight attendant notified the
captain, who immediately contacted USAir ground control, and police were
subsequently notified. What Daigle didn't know was that then-U.S.
President
Bill Clinton was also on the
Pittsburgh International Airport tarmac at the time, resulting in a heightened level of security.
[4] Daigle was not prosecuted for the incident, but was fined $300 and was not allowed to board the attaching flight to
Tampa with the rest of the team.
[5]
During the
1997–98
season, after four and a half seasons, 74 goals and 172 points in 301
games played, Ottawa finally soured on Daigle and traded him to the
Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for prospect
Václav Prospal and another first-round bust,
Pat Falloon. With the Flyers, Daigle scored 31 points in 68 games. 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 the 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 found himself out of hockey by the age of 25. No one was
willing to take a chance on the under-achiever, and in fact, by his own
admission said he had no desire to play the game anymore. In an
interview on 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. He played hockey in a small league in
Los Angeles with
Cuba Gooding Jr. on
Jerry Bruckheimer's team, the
Bad Boys, and created an event promotion company, Impostor Entertainment, with former
Montreal Expos pitcher
Derek Aucoin. Their first project was a concert featuring
Sheryl Crow during the
Canadian Grand Prix Formula One auto race in
Montreal.
Following a two-year absence from hockey and in need of a steady
paycheck, Daigle decided to attempt an NHL comeback. In mid-2002, he
contacted numerous teams looking for an invitation to training camp,
ultimately signing with the
Pittsburgh Penguins.
Daigle would lead the Penguins in pre-season scoring, earning 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, ultimately spending 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 offseason.
After arriving in Minnesota, Daigle impressed the Wild coaching staff
enough to earn a roster spot for opening night. Over the course of the
2003–04 season,
Daigle managed to match his career high point total, finishing the
campaign with 51 points (20 goals and 31 assists) to lead 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,
Minnesota waived Daigle and reassigned him to the team's
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.
Post NHL-career
Aware that his NHL career was over, Daigle set his sights on Europe. On May 5, 2006, he signed a two-year contract with
HC Davos, a top team in the
Swiss National League A,
and inked a two-year extension with them in December. During his three
complete seasons playing in Davos, the team won the league championship
on two occasions.
[6]
In a little over three seasons with HC Davos, Daigle played 137 games,
tallying 46 goals and 94 assists for 140 points (averaging a little over
one point per game).
On October 26, 2009, Daigle was loaned to the
SCL Tigers in exchange for
Oliver Setzinger. Daigle played 25 games with the SCL Tigers in the
2009–10 season,
with 7 goals and 17 assists for 24 points. Daigle ranked seventh on the
team in points while playing in fewer than half as many games as the
team's other top scorers.
[7]
On March 23, 2010, Daigle and HC Davos agreed to have his contract
reduced from five years to three years, making him a free agent after
the 2009–10 season.
[8]
Although Daigle has not officially retired, he has not resumed his career since the 2009–10 season.
CAREER STATS :
