The Lightning's new acquisition, Alexandre Daigle, is known as a bit of a free spirit.
Hey, the man once went on a date with Pamela Anderson.
But his clown act has gotten him in trouble. And, wouldn't you know it, he was on his way to Tampa at the time.
In the summer of 1996, Daigle boarded USAir Flight 1948 from Pittsburgh to Tampa for a preseason game in Lakeland between Daigle's Ottawa Senators and the Lightning. Before takeoff, a flight attendant asked scouting coordinator Trevor Timmons to put away his computer. Daigle cracked, "Trevor, watch your bomb there."
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At that point, Daigle and his baggage were escorted off the plane, and authorities delayed the flight for 45 minutes to search for a bomb. Turns out, Air Force One was on the adjacent runway at the time. Daigle was questioned for more than two hours and had to take another flight to Tampa.
"I was not thinking it would be taken seriously," he said then. "At the time I said it I was joking, playing cards and fooling around. But I understand why they took it seriously."
Daigle said the authorities told him he could have been arrested on criminal charges based on local laws. Instead, he was fined $372.
