Why was Daigle drafted 1st overall?

[MeTaL4EvR]

I think that the Senators decided to pick him also because he was french-canadian and the Senators wanted a french "superstar" to help their popularity with the club's french amateurs. They should of gone with Pronger instead

 

[Nimrods Son]

fair point

 

[AgentNaslund*]

He broke one of Lemiues record as a 16 year old.
He was listed as the next Guy Lafleur.

There was an artical about what happend. How montreal was begging Ottawa to trade em the 1st overall pick, (MOntreal history of having their home grown superstars play for em), How Quebec, offered up Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, some other guy,and a 1st round pick for Ottawas 1st overall pick etc etc. How Ottawa and San Jose was losing games on purpose just so they can have a shot at the Number 1 pick. (why do u guys think they only had 9 wins in that season?)

 

[hockeyfan125]

Daigle is up there with Chris Phillips as gems of the Senators drafting system.

You can't call Phillips a bust. He is a solid 2 or 3 on any team. He isn't the gamebreaker people thought he would be, but he still is a valuable player.

 

[trentmccleary]

(why do u guys think they only had 9 wins in that season?)

Because they picked up players in the expansion draft with 2-way contracts to make sure that they had the lowest payroll possible. The team was underfunded from the start and playing in a 10,000 seat arena for the first 3 or 4 years was going to kill them. The 1st year Sens... made less than Mario that year.

 

[Hug Ben Laf]

are you serious? daigle absolutely dominated the q, there was no doubt in anyones mind at the time that he was the no 1 pick. his hype was of similar size to crosbys in fact. anyone who dismisses daigle and says crosby is other worldly in comparison just isnt remembering. crosby has a much better attitude, and i think that will make a huge difference. daigle was labeled a cant miss, franchise player - he was to be the face of whatever franchise took him. he was a better prospect than pronger, kariya, arnott - take a look at that stacked draft and try to imagine that not one player was close to daigle on draft day. the proof of how big he was to be was his contract. he made 3 million a year in 1992! only 66 and 99 made more at the time. his contract alone led to the 94 lockout, the rookie cap, and played no small role in the inflation that led to this lockout. love your stats all you want, but crosby wont be anything more than marty murray until he does it at the nhl level. dont get me wrong, im rooting for him and cant wait to see it, but you cant get caught up in the hype. he could fall flat as a pro.

myt biggest problem with the daigle hate game was that the kid scored 20 goals and had like 50 pts! as an 18 year old! for the ottawa senators who were one of the worst teams in the history of the game. i thought he more than lived up to expectations - wouldnt you think that would be good enough? it wasnt close to good enough, and thats why daigle failed. 50 pts as an 18 year old was considered a failure for a kid with that much hype and that big a contract. he was doomed the day he signed, imo. there have been so many worst busts as no 1 than daigle, it really bothers me he gets so much crap. he's put up enough points to at least be considered a good player, and everyone still refers to him as one of the biggest busts ever.a valueable lesson for crosby to look at.

Hey dont get me wrong, I love Daigle. And I think he was a great junior player. And 51 points as a rookie and then next season he had 37 points in 47 games, that is very good. But his lack of heart and too much pressure kill his young career

I was just saying that was Daigle leading the Q in points at Crosby age and I think Crosby is a better junior player than what Daigle was, by the game play or numbers.

 

[Russian Fan]

Wow ! How can people just say things they don't know just to let people think they know everything.

Let's clear some things here. Alexander Daigle was the NEXT MARIO LEMIEUX when it comes to draft him in 1993.

Alexander Daigle was so TALENTED & it's not a joke that it was VERY EASY to see him as the great superstars everyone imagine.

If people follow & PLAYED hockey a bit , they can see that talent alone as GIFTED you can be is not enough when it comes to perfrom as a superstar level.

Maybe people can't understand or imagine this but Alexandre Daigle (even as gifted as I truly believe) never had the WILL, the PASSION, the DESIRE TO BE THE NEXT GREAT ONE !!

Look at the past great players who won the scoring championship , they were talented, they determined, they were hungry to be #1 & that's a thing that Daigle never had in him.

I know a lot people who are gifted in something but they waste that potential & that talent for multiples reasons that are very hard to understand considering that if I had a great talent, I would do everything to be the best but Alexandre Daigle never use that talent that I TRULY BELIEVE he had to be what HE WAS SUPPOSE TO BECOME.

I hope that will clear some things about him. You can blame him to waste the talent he had but you can never doubt WHY HE WAS A CONSENSUS #1 that day of 1993.

 

[Mothra]

I love Daigle. And I think he was a great junior player.

Crosby is a better junior player than what Daigle was, by the game play or numbers.

Didnt you say earlier that you were not a hockey fan in the early 90's? How can you comment on a players game play if you never saw them actually play?

 

[arnie]

He was drafted #1 because he was exceptionally talented. That he wasn't able to live up to it is another matter. Looking back of course he shouldn't have been drafted first, but he also shouldn't have been handled the way he was by his team.

Look at where he is today. He is finally starting to learn it takes hard work to be a NHL player. And by now he has blown most of his career.

I've read some scouting opinions about Daigle as an NHLer. They say that he was a big success in junior because he was so fast that he could skate right around the defenseman. When he got the NHL, the players were faster and teams quickly learned that he only had one move - skate around ther outside of the d and cut in. After that, his fate was doomed.

 

[Hug Ben Laf]

Didnt you say earlier that you were not a hockey fan in the early 90's? How can you comment on a players game play if you never saw them actually play?

I have never seen Daigle play that is true, but I had seen Crosby play and WOW! How can I said Crosby is better? well from the report I read about an young Daigle he does not play an complete game as Crosby. And just the numbers said Crosby is a better player now than what Daigle was as an 16-17. I know points is not everything, but Crosby also play a very good games.

 

[#66]

I have never seen Daigle play that is true, but I had seen Crosby play and WOW! How can I said Crosby is better? well from the report I read about an young Daigle he does not play an complete game as Crosby. And just the numbers said Crosby is a better player now than what Daigle was as an 16-17. I know points is not everything, but Crosby also play a very good games.

Right!!! Plus Daigle would score a ton of break away goals. That just wouldn't happen in the NHL. I remember back then and thinking that his hands were over-rated. He used his speed to burn d-men on the outside and drag the puck along but he could never stick handle through a player. Crosby is a better stick handler, is a more mobile skater, has more sense with the puck, and plays with more snarl. IMO his game is 10x's more suited for the NHL.

 

[Hawker14]

heck, daigle has so much talent i'm still waiting for a breakthrough season !!! it's a shame he's let all that ability basically go to waste.

as for crosby, time will tell. he appears to love playing the game, so i'm betting on him succeeding, as this was daigle's biggest flaw.

 

[Form and Substance]

Well who the hell suspected a 50pt season at this stage in his career? And with Minny on top of that,I certainly didn't. I still think there's a bit of hope left.

 

[Hackett]

I think people now realize that after Gamache lit up the Q for 190 points. I'd called it a glorified Junior A league though.

Midget...:lol

Cant say the same about the goalies though

 

[trentmccleary]

Daigle started with these two NHL seasons:
18 yo = 84-20-51
19 yo = 47-16-37 (about 65 points)

According to news reports the summer after that last year, I assume they were both pretty frusterated trying to set up 3rd liners on expansion teams.
Daigle doesn't seem to have worked on anything that summer... he just told every reporter in Ottawa that he "was going to score 50 goals". He crashed after that.
Even if he didn't work on anything, there's no reason why he shouldn't at least be Nylander or something now.

Maybe I finish this off...
Daigle crashed in his 3rd season because he tried to change his game to score 50 goals. He spent more time trying to get open for a shot, setting up around the hash marks and really not playing with his set of skills.
Jacques Martin came in and saw a really selfish player who was unsuccessful. He changed Daigle's game again. Jacques told him to head to/crash the net for tip ins and garbage goals. He did it for a few games and gun run into the net by a Leaf D-man (Rouse I think). Daigle broke his arm and missed the rest of the season.

Heart - I'm a big believer in "actions speak louder than words". I honestly don't think that a lack of heart played a big role in his downfall.
He came back the nest season, bigger and stronger than ever (relatively massive actively). He kept going to the net (despite breaking his arm the year before) and had a successful year. But it was also the start of Daigle scoring more goals than assists. He showed both offseason dedication and in-game heart and toughness.

The article about his dad. I basically write off as a player trying to justify his poor career (without the benefit of an objective view). Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm way off here. But on ice and in our papers... that's what I saw at that time.
I just keep thinking about what would have happened if Gretzky decided to be a goon two years into his career or if Norstrom had decided that he was going to be Bobby Orr.

 

[Wetcoaster]

The Q have changed alot in 10 years. And was Daigle leading the league in points? Crosby will be the 1st 16-17 years old to win back to back laegue leader since... whom? it have been such a long time ago a player have done that that I dont remember, if any 16-17 year old have done it at all.

Daigle was 9th in points in 1991-92:
1 Patrick Poulin, St.-Hyacinthe....138
2 Martin Gendron, St.-Hyacinthe....137
3 Charles Poulin, St.-Hyacinthe....135
4 Hughes Mongeon, 2 teams..........130
5 Hugo Proulx, Drummondville.......124
6 Marc Rodgers, 2 teams............120
7 Robert Guillet, Verdun...........118
8 Carl Boudreau, Trois Rivieres....115
9 Alexandre Daigle, Victoriaville..110
10 Eric Bellerose, 2 teams..........109

Daigle was 3rd in points in 1992-93:
1 Rene Corbet, Drummondville.......148
2 Ian Laperriere, Drummondville....140
3 Alexandre Daigle, Victoriaville..137
4 Martin Gendron, St.-Hyacinthe....134
5 Claude Savoie, Victoriaville.....131
6 Eric Veilleux, Laval.............125
7 Michel St. Jacques, Chicoutimi...120
8 Martin Tanguay, 3 teams..........111
8 Matthew Barnaby, 3 teams.........111
10 Stephane St. Amour, 2 teams......109

Crosby was No. 1 in points in 2003-04 in a much more defensive Q - 18 points better than anyone else:
1 Sidney Crosby, Rimouski..........135
2 Dany Roussin, Rimouski...........117
3 Maxime Talbot, Gatineau.......... 98
4 Jean-Michel Daoust, Gatineau..... 96
5 Benoit Mondou, Shawinigan........ 95
6 Pascal Pelletier, Shawinigan..... 91
7 Yannick Tifu, Rouyn-Noranda...... 90
8 Guillaume Fournier, 2 teams...... 88
9 Francois-Pierre Guenette, Cape Br 85
10 Michael Lambert, P.E.I........... 84
10 Karl Gagne, Moncton.............. 84

This season to date:
1 Crosby, Sidney.......... 74
2 Roussin, Dany........... 59
3 Boisclair, Maxime....... 57
4 Bourret, Alex............ 54
5 Pouliot, Marc-Antoine 53
6 Lascek, Stanislav...... 53
7 Desharnais, David...... 51
8 Picard, Alexandre...... 50
9Hennessy, Josh......... 48
10 Radulov, Alexander.. 47

Significantly better than Daigle played IMHO. Plus Crosby has the Gretzky-like ability to raise the level of play of his teammates. This year Crosby, Roussin and Pouliot of Rimouski are all in the top five in scoring in the Q.

Lemieux did not crack the Top Ten in scoring in his rookie year as a 16 year old in 1981-82 checking in with 96 points - the league scoring champion was Claude Verret (14 NHL games total with the Sabres) with 162 points.

In 1982-83 Lemieux finished 3rd in scoring with 184 points but Pat Lafontaine scored 234 points.

In 1983-84 in his last year in the Q Lemieux finished 1st scoring a mind boggling 282 points with second place going to his linemate Jacques Goyette with 170 points. A pylon likely could have clocked in with 170 points playing with Lemieux that season.

In his one full season in the OHL as 16 year old (he played 3 games as a 15 year scoring 3 points) Gretzky finished second in scoring with 182 points to Bobby Smith's 192 points.

Crosby seems most comparable to Gretzky IMHO. Daigle was overhyped and overpaid by the Sens.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

I have limited knowledge about Daigle but he went #1 because the sens thought he was the best player available. Look at all the guys who scored similiar points to him. Have they done anything significent in the NHL, no. Crosby is no doubt a better prospect than Daigle.

 

[trentmccleary]

Significantly better than Daigle played IMHO. Plus Crosby has the Gretzky-like ability to raise the level of play of his teammates. This year Crosby, Roussin and Pouliot of Rimouski are all in the top five in scoring in the Q.

Lemieux did not crack the Top Ten in scoring in his rookie year as a 16 year old in 1981-82 checking in with 96 points - the league scoring champion was Claude Verret (14 NHL games total with the Sabres) with 162 points.

In 1982-83 Lemieux finished 3rd in scoring with 184 points but Pat Lafontaine scored 234 points.

In his one full season in the OHL as 16 year old (he played 3 games as a 15 year scoring 3 points) Gretzky finished second in scoring with 182 points to Bobby Smith's 192 points.

Crosby seems most comparable to Gretzky IMHO. Daigle was overhyped and overpaid by the Sens.

Daigle was hyped long before the Sens ever came along.

I don't understand what point you're trying to make in the rest of your post. You show that minor league stats mean nothing in terms of NHL potential which is true... and then argue that Crosby is better because he scored more than Daigle. I agree with your opinion, but your argument doesn't necessarily support that. You did a lot of work for nothing.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Daigle was hyped long before the Sens ever came along.

I don't understand what point you're trying to make in the rest of your post. You show that minor league stats mean nothing in terms of NHL potential which is true... and then argue that Crosby is better because he scored more than Daigle. I agree with your opinion, but your argument doesn't necessarily support that. You did a lot of work for nothing.

Daigle was far from a consensus Number 1 pick that year. IIRC many scouts and prospect services had Chris Pronger, Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya, Rob Niedermayer, Viktor Kozlov and even Jason Arnott rated ahead of Daigle.

Look at the first round that year - it was incredibly deep with top flight talent (and the second round had some real keepers as well):
Alexandre Daigle
Chris Pronger
Chris Gratton
Paul Kariya
Rob Niedermayer
Viktor Kozlov
Jason Arnott
Niklas Sundstrom
Todd Harvey
Jocelyn Thibault
Brendan Witt
Kenny Jonsson
Denis Pederson
Adam Deadmarsh
Mats Lindgren
Nick Stajduhar
Jason Allison
Jesper Mattsson
Landon Wilson
Mike Wilson
Saku Koivu
Anders Eriksson
Todd Bertuzzi
Eric Lecompte
Kevyn Adams
Stefan Bergkvist

Where did I say junior stats mean nothing?

The point was as a 16 year old Crosby led his junior league in scoring - something not accomplished by Gretzky, Lemieux nor Daigle did and Crosby is likely to do so again. In fact only Lemieux won a scoring title and that was in his third year of junior.

I am unaware of anyone doing that in any of the major junior leagues in history (but I am open to correction on that if anyone has better information). To me that demonstrates superiority over your peers over a significant time frame (two seasons).

 

[PecaFan]

You're placing far too much emphasis on the age thing. What you can do at early ages depends greatly on what opportunities you get.

Having watched both, I think Crosby will be lucky if he ends up being half the player Gretz was.

 

[trentmccleary]

Daigle was far from a consensus Number 1 pick that year. IIRC many scouts and prospect services had Chris Pronger, Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya, Rob Niedermayer, Viktor Kozlov and even Jason Arnott rated ahead of Daigle.

You're using hindsight instead of the facts at that time.

At that time, only 1 of those players really competed against Daigle.
- Kozlov who had been considered pick 1A or 1B for a long time before a poor showing dropped his ranking.

Kariya was small, nobody was going to draft him over a bigger player with a similar skillset.
Pronger was considered a little raw.
Niedermayer was the consensus "top 5" guy.
Arnott didn't get a sniff for #1... stop looking at their careers to date to make posts like this.

 

[Murphy*]

Because of his impressive stats in the Q.I remember He was a very flashy player.His playmaking skils were unbeleivable.That's why He was called the next ''66''.

Then , He had too many pressure on him.He lost confidence in him.

You know the rest.............

Not to be an ass or anything, but arent you 14? Yeah, I dont really think you actually remember that...

 

[Wetcoaster]

You're using hindsight instead of the facts at that time.

At that time, only 1 of those players really competed against Daigle.
- Kozlov who had been considered pick 1A or 1B for a long time before a poor showing dropped his ranking.

Kariya was small, nobody was going to draft him over a bigger player with a similar skillset.
Pronger was considered a little raw.
Niedermayer was the consensus "top 5" guy.
Arnott didn't get a sniff for #1... stop looking at their careers to date to make posts like this.

I suggest you go take a look at the back issues of THN.

 

[Air]

I thought Daigle was drafted not solely on his hockey goods, but also for his bilingualism, which the team thought they'd use to attract more fans in the National Capital Region area (Gatineau) ... Whatever charisma the guy had, though, all went out the window when he posed as a nurse. Does anybody have a pic of that card, by the way?

 

[trentmccleary]

I suggest you go take a look at the back issues of THN.

Well, that yearbook has Daigle projected to be the leading scorer among rookies. Daigle, Niedermayer and Pronger are the only 3 listed as realistic possibilities for the Calder from the '93 draft. They praise Randy Sexton for resisiting trade offers for Daigle.
The Sporting News yearbook confirms my previous statements about Kozlov and Bonk being potential #1's.
And nobody has a word to say about Arnott until he puts up 68 points in his rookie season.