The Alexandre Daigle Story.
- Thread starter Cory Kennedy
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DingDongCharlie
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- Sep 12, 2010
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He wanted to be an actor and didn’t care for hockey. Ironically had he applied himself fully into hockey he would have had more off ice opportunities.
BWJM
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- Mar 16, 2011
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The Panther
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The angle of his dangle was inversely proportional to the heat of his meat.
He scored 12 points in his first six NHL games. Then, it was all downhill from there.
He scored 12 points in his first six NHL games. Then, it was all downhill from there.
Gotta pay the mortgage. Wouldn’t be the first person trapped in a career they don’t like.
When I first think of him 5 things come to mind: lazy, not driven to be the best, lethargic, apathetic towards hockey and lackadaisical at best.
Don’t know about anyone else but he strikes me as the kind of guy who because he was never Gretzky/Lemieux level talented, he automatically wasn’t interested in playing in the show at his best. A 1 or 100 type person, no in between. Maybe just me. Anyway he was more interested in being an actor and getting into Hollywood and that much is fact. Should have played in California than
Don’t know about anyone else but he strikes me as the kind of guy who because he was never Gretzky/Lemieux level talented, he automatically wasn’t interested in playing in the show at his best. A 1 or 100 type person, no in between. Maybe just me. Anyway he was more interested in being an actor and getting into Hollywood and that much is fact. Should have played in California than
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A losing culture is contagious. He became disinterested after playing for atrocious teams and his development was stunted by the time he got out. I can think of a few modern parallels even in the salary cap era when teams are forced to be somewhat competitive.
Obviously, some people can rise above those situations but not everyone. In a better atmosphere, no one would have called him disinterested and he'd have had a much better career.
Obviously, some people can rise above those situations but not everyone. In a better atmosphere, no one would have called him disinterested and he'd have had a much better career.
Despite what the first 30 replies here say, he simply wasn’t that talented.
He was a beautiful skater. And had soft hands. But he was weak on the puck, had average hockey sense, not a great shot, and not much grit. He had like two moves when he was carrying speed into the offensive zone and NHL defenders figured them out in a year.
Then he crashed into a goalpost in his 2nd or 3rd year and was seriously hurt and became more of a perimeter player than he already was.
I feel like this ‘I never really liked hockey’ thing was a defence mechanism he put up to explain his failings and then the hockey world just latched onto it. I don’t think he liked being hit and didn’t like to get dirty points but lots of guys are like that.
Maxim Afinogenov was a similar player with a similar skill set who had a pretty similar career (save a brief blip coming out of the lockout). Because being a pretty skater doesn’t translate directly to effective hockey.
He was a beautiful skater. And had soft hands. But he was weak on the puck, had average hockey sense, not a great shot, and not much grit. He had like two moves when he was carrying speed into the offensive zone and NHL defenders figured them out in a year.
Then he crashed into a goalpost in his 2nd or 3rd year and was seriously hurt and became more of a perimeter player than he already was.
I feel like this ‘I never really liked hockey’ thing was a defence mechanism he put up to explain his failings and then the hockey world just latched onto it. I don’t think he liked being hit and didn’t like to get dirty points but lots of guys are like that.
Maxim Afinogenov was a similar player with a similar skill set who had a pretty similar career (save a brief blip coming out of the lockout). Because being a pretty skater doesn’t translate directly to effective hockey.
vadim sharifijanov
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- Oct 10, 2007
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figured out is right
the first six games of his career
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he’s second in points/game, behind gretzky. he’s only 15th in points because everyone else had played 8 or 9 games.
then in game seven, he scores the third period tie-breaker, which held up as the eventual game winner. his first NHL win. that goal pushed him into a tie for 9th in scoring (with bure, selanne, jagr, and others).
the top 8:
1. gretzky
2. oates
3. fedorov
4. gilmour
5. lindros/sakic/robitaille/nieuwendyk
his entire career was downhill from there
the first six games of his career
| 1 | 1993-10-06 | 1 | 18-241 | OTT | QUE | T | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1993-10-09 | 2 | 18-244 | OTT | @ | STL | L | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 66.7 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1993-10-14 | 3 | 18-249 | OTT | @ | FLA | L | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.0 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1993-10-16 | 4 | 18-251 | OTT | @ | TBL | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 33.3 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1993-10-21 | 5 | 18-256 | OTT | DAL | L | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 | |||||||||||
| 6 | 1993-10-23 | 6 | 18-258 | OTT | @ | NYI | T | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
he’s second in points/game, behind gretzky. he’s only 15th in points because everyone else had played 8 or 9 games.
then in game seven, he scores the third period tie-breaker, which held up as the eventual game winner. his first NHL win. that goal pushed him into a tie for 9th in scoring (with bure, selanne, jagr, and others).
the top 8:
1. gretzky
2. oates
3. fedorov
4. gilmour
5. lindros/sakic/robitaille/nieuwendyk
his entire career was downhill from there
The QMJHL was so over rated in Quebec, the rest of the country rated it far lower than the WHL and the OHL. Because he was french, and people were desperate for a french superstar, the media convinced themselves he was greater than he was.
He was a good player with skill, who lacked the passion and work ethic to reach his skill potential. I remember living in Toronto at the time, I don't recall most people in Ontario being convinced about AD. Obviously the Ottawa environment didn't help him either when he came into the league. As posters have already stated, Kariya was the much better player who was gaining a lot of hype, that became even more obvious in 94.
The sad part is, he could have been a life long second liner and played decent hockey. If he had applied himself more, who knows. He had the intelligence to play as a grinder of 2 way player, if he so desired. He did this later, sort of.
For me personally, I have a lot of respect for him for the fact he came back to the league, after a couple years break. He actually played fairly well. He scored 20 goals and topped 50 points several times, including his return on a defensive minded Wild team.
But he was clearly way over rated and if he had been scouted to the degree kids are now, red flags for his lack of commitment and passion would have jumped out. I always felt he got an unearned free pass on a lot of his behaviors. His desire to do other things outside of hockey, to chase fame, to be an actor, whatever else. Would have been known much sooner.
He was a good player with skill, who lacked the passion and work ethic to reach his skill potential. I remember living in Toronto at the time, I don't recall most people in Ontario being convinced about AD. Obviously the Ottawa environment didn't help him either when he came into the league. As posters have already stated, Kariya was the much better player who was gaining a lot of hype, that became even more obvious in 94.
The sad part is, he could have been a life long second liner and played decent hockey. If he had applied himself more, who knows. He had the intelligence to play as a grinder of 2 way player, if he so desired. He did this later, sort of.
For me personally, I have a lot of respect for him for the fact he came back to the league, after a couple years break. He actually played fairly well. He scored 20 goals and topped 50 points several times, including his return on a defensive minded Wild team.
But he was clearly way over rated and if he had been scouted to the degree kids are now, red flags for his lack of commitment and passion would have jumped out. I always felt he got an unearned free pass on a lot of his behaviors. His desire to do other things outside of hockey, to chase fame, to be an actor, whatever else. Would have been known much sooner.
lawrence
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- May 19, 2012
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anyone hockey historians out there? I do remember reading rumours about how Quebec and Montreal had insane offers for the 1st pick, which includes Peter Forsberg, Ricci, their 93 1st rounder for Ottawas 1st rounder and so for. Insane stuff, they thought he would be the next Guy Lafleur. the next great legendary French player.
alko
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vadim sharifijanov
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i think it's one of those things where i'm sure everyone in the NHL loves playing hockey in a vacuum. but some guys are a little different from the typical NHLer, whatever we think that was back in the 90s (i don't really want to speculate or get into cultural stereotypes but people can fill in whatever blanks they want).
and if you have to go to work everyday with a bunch of guys you just don't get along with, maybe because you have different interests, or you don't talk the same way, or whatever, that can be a miserable thing. none of us know the specifics, but could it be like some of the things we've surmised about jimmy carson's experience on the oilers? or dougie hamilton on the flames? or evander kane on the jets? my sense is different culture clashes were at play in each of those instances, but daigle on the sens might have just been another one where a guy just didn't/couldn't/wouldn't get along with the boys.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
He lost most of his money when he moved to LA and tried to set up a movie company and it took him awhile to realize he was footing the bill for people who in fact setting up movies at other production companies and due to how the contracts and in some cases LACK of contracts he burned through his money
I was working for the British Columbia Motion Picture association when he was working out of LA and it was well known he was in over his head and I think it was either Alan Thicke or Cronenberg that finally got through to him
He lost most his his money and they is one reason why he had to come back and ended up in the swiss league, which was well known to pay players a lot of money tax free
Somebody posted the 1993 Draft on YouTube and it was a fascinating retroactive watch (I didn't start watching regularly until 1995).
Around the 7 minute mark, Sens GM Randy Sexton is being interviewed and he says that Quebec asked if they'd consider moving the pick but Ottawa declined. At face value, Sexton says nothing was on the table.
Bob McKenzie says Quebec's owner told a slightly different story but didn't mention names.
HOCKEY; As Expected, Senators Make Daigle Top Pick (Published 1993)
Maybe it was mentioned elsewhere, but the links I'm finding about Sakic/Forsberg/etc seem to be questionable.
This thread seems pretty well researched:
That may have been in an effort to land Chris Pronger (more on him in a bit) rather than Daigle since Ottawa didn't want to move the pick.
WHALERS GET PRONGER, THE REAL DEAL
The interesting tidbit on the draft broadcast was that Quebec also tried to move up for Chris Pronger. I don't think any names were mentioned, but I'd be curious if Mike Ricci was dangled; Ricci was 21 and coming off of a 78 point season. San Jose passed became they really wanted Viktor Kozlov. A few years later, San Jose would indirectly swap Kozlov for Ricci.
McKenzie also mentioned talk of a Joe Sakic for Felix Potvin deal.
Getting back to Daigle, I feel the need to mention that the "nobody remembers #2" sound bite was made in jest rather than with arrogance. But over time it seems like that gets lost and it's easy to use it to make it sound worse.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
He made back some of the money when he came back. But his original money did not last long
Last thing I heard he owned a film company in Quebec and learned how to play that game now
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I don’t believe Dougie Hamilton was so much of plan outsider. I believe he was considered one of the guys. I just believe he likes alone time and will not attend every get together. Evander Kane gets no excuses, sympathy or forgiveness. Complete garbage. Playing in the NHL is a privilege, not a right. He’s one of those individuals that just gets you relied up just thinking about him.
Jumptheshark
Rebooting myself
One last thing to add--after what happened to Daigle--both the NHLPA and the NHL started providing financial awareness and training for players who get drafted if they want it
Stephen
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- Feb 28, 2002
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The Quebec/Toronto blockbuster rumour mill was definitely in motion for a year. Potvin, Gilmour and Clark on one side rumored to be going to Quebec at various times and some combination of Sakic, Fiset, Ricci, Sundin and Forsberg coming back to Toronto.
Daigle and Mike Sillinger, of all people, caught fire in the middle of the 1997-98 season with the Flyers.
MadLuke
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- Jan 18, 2011
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By the summer of 93, Forsberg came second in the SEL in scoring, behind an ex 100 points scorer in the NHL that was just 33:
SEL 1992-93 League Leaders at hockeydb.com
And is 31 points in 7 games at the world junior, it was not the same asset the Flyers traded at all by that point, that make me suspicious that it would have been a made up rumor.
lawrence
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- May 19, 2012
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all I remember was insane offers both Quebec and Montreal threw at Ottawa. They didn't bite.
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