A tale of two 'stars'
Lightning, Lecavalier learning from Daigle situation
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Ottawa Sun
April 16, 1999
TAMPA -- They sit at opposite ends of the Tampa Bay Lightning dressing room and that in itself is symbolic.
Their careers are going in completely different directions. One is a star on the rise. The other a would-be star fading out of sight.
The backgrounds of Tampa forwards Vincent Lecavalier and Alexandre Daigle are so similar it's uncanny. Both were young French-Canadian superstars in the QMJHL and both were No. 1 picks in the NHL entry draft.
While Lecavalier, 18, arrived in the NHL with some fanfare, it was nothing close to the type of pressure Daigle had the day he was handed a $12.25-million cheque by the Senators at the draft in 1993 in Quebec City.
Through the course of this season, Lecavalier has become the unknown rookie. His 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 75 games going into last night against Ottawa aren't sparkling, but nobody is complaining.
"It's definitely been different for me," said Lecavalier, the top selection in last summer's draft. "Alex and I have talked about it and he's been really helpful with me. I know he had a tough time with all the pressure.
"Being from Quebec and playing in Ottawa, there was a lot of pressure from the media and the fans to perform. Here, when I arrived on Day 1 they told me that they weren't going to put any pressure on me. That's been great for me."
Daigle, 24, never lived up to expectations placed on him by the Senators franchise. He was brought in to sell tickets, which in turn would help get the financing for the Corel Centre. He was considered a marketing dream.
But potential never turned into production for Daigle in Ottawa. Instead, as Alexei Yashin took the spotlight, the guy everybody thought was going to be the next Mr. Hockey had a tough time making it happen on the ice.
Shipped off to Philadelphia, he was then shuttled off to Tampa this season, where he's getting a third chance to succeed. There'll always be opportunity for Daigle because of his personality, but it's hard to shake the feeling he'll be an underachiever his whole career.
For his part, Daigle no longer speaks to certain members of the Ottawa press. He walked by a couple of scribes standing in the hallway outside the Tampa dressing room without acknowledging their presence.
Daigle doesn't blame himself for what went wrong in Ottawa -- he would prefer to believe it's the fault of the "negative media" -- but that's why nobody wants to make the same mistake with Lecavalier.
Heat, what heat? He's not getting any at all.
"If you're in a situation like Vincent Lecavalier, I told him the best thing for him was to start his NHL career here," said Tampa coach Jacques Demers. "It's very tough to be a French Canadian playing in Montreal or Ottawa.
"Believe me, I know what it can be like from coaching the Canadiens and being from there. There's all kinds of hype when you're a French Canadian playing in one of those two cities and it can be tough on the young player.
"That's what happened to Alexandre Daigle. I don't blame him for signing the big contract. I would have taken it. The expectations placed on him were high at the start of his career and I think it took a lot out of him."
Lecavalier is the Lightning's pet project.
"Everybody has been very helpful to me," said Lecavalier. "Before he got traded to Detroit, Wendel Clark really showed me the way around. There were certain things I could get away with in junior that I couldn't do here.
"This has been pretty smooth for me. I thought the first year was going to be a lot tougher, but the change from junior hasn't been as difficult as I thought."
What lies ahead for Lecavalier isn't known, but the Lightning would like to believe he has bright future. He could become the cornerstone this franchise is built around.
"I've tried to minimize the hoopla surrounding this kid," said Demers. "The hoopla can be too much for a kid and I went through that with Joe Murphy in Detroit. We just want to work with Vinnie and make him a better player."
With careful handling, the similarities between Lecavalier and Daigle will stop there.
