Alexandre Daigle

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Alexandre Daigle (born February 7, 1975 in Laval, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He is known as one of the biggest busts in sports history.

Daigle was considered one of the most promising prospects of his generation. In junior hockey he had set new records and some writers compared him to Wayne Gretzky with the added bonus of a mean streak. The Ottawa Senators were even accused of deliberately losing late in the season to draft him, which prompted an investigation by the league. When the expansion team finished last, they drafted Daigle over future NHL superstars Chris Pronger and Paul Kariya who were picked second and fourth, respectively. He also 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.) Daigle also received the largest starting salary in league history (five-year, $12.25 million), which lead to the introduction of a rookie salary cap a few years later.

Daigle never measured up to his potential. He was frequently criticized for lack of effort and motivation, partially because of his lucrative and long-term contract, and he was outshone by Russian centre Alexei Yashin in every season that they were teammates. Ironically, management continued to support Daigle over Yashin, not only giving Daigle a large rookie salary but also touting him over Yashin for the Calder Trophy (though Yashin ending up received a nomination instead of Daigle). Due to management's continued support of Daigle despite his underperformance, an angered Yashin threatened to holdout in the 1995-96 season unless his contract was raised to a level similar to Daigle's. After several disappointing seasons, the fans and management in Ottawa turned against Daigle and he was traded.

He bounced around the league, playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the New York Rangers until quitting the league in 2000 to pursue a career in Hollywood. He returned to hockey for the 2002-03 season, signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He played for the Minnesota Wild, where he tied his career high in points (51) to lead the team in scoring in 2003-2004. During this season he was also 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 the 6th of March 2006, Daigle was waived by Minnesota and reassigned to their AHL affiliate Houston Aeros. Daigle did not play a game for the Aeros, and was subsequently loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL on the 13th of March 2006 in exchange for forward Brendan Bernakevitch.

On the 5th of May 2006, Daigle inked a two-year deal with Swiss top team HC Davos.

Contents

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1998, Daigle briefly dated actress Pamela Anderson.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • He played hockey in a small league in Los Angeles with Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Bruckheimer's team, the Bad Boys.

[edit] Career Statistics

                                  Regular Season              
Season  Team                    Lge   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 
1995    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
1997-98 Ottawa/Philadelphia     NHL   75   16  26   42   14  
1998-99 Philadelphia/Tampa Bay  NHL   63   9   8    17   8
1999-00 New York Rangers        NHL   58   8   18   26   23
        Hartford Wolf Pack      AHL   16   6   13   19   4
2002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins     NHL   33   4   3    7    8
        WB/Scranton Penguins    AHL   40   9   29   38   18
2003-04 Minnesota Wild          NHL   78   20  31   51   14
2005-06 Minnesota Wild          NHL   46   5   23   28   12
                 
                   NHL Totals         616  129 198  327  190

[edit] QMJHL Awards

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Roman Hamrlik		 1st Overall Pick in NHL Entry Draft
1993		 Succeeded by:
Ed Jovanovski
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