Éric Dazé

Éric Dazé
Born (1975-07-02) July 2, 1975
Montreal, QC, CAN
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb)
Position Winger
Shot Left
Played for Chicago Blackhawks
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 90th overall, 1993
Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career 19942005

Éric Dazé (born July 2, 1975) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for eleven seasons.

Playing career

Eric Daze began his career playing midget with Laval in Quebec AAA Midget Hockey League. In the 1992–93, he joined the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) before being traded to the Beauport Harfangs late in the season. Despite starring for Beauport, and a strong junior career (finishing with 261 points in 191 games), Daze's value amongst NHL scouts dropped sharply due to his unwillingness to play a rough game, despite possessing the abilities for it.

Daze was drafted in the fourth round, 90th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks (with the draft pick the Blackhawks received with Stephane Beauregard for Dominik Hasek). He had early success and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1996 after scoring 30 goals as a rookie. He scored at least 20 goals in each season between 1996 and 2003, even when struggling with injuries, and was named to the NHL All-Star Game in 2002. Daze who was appearing in his first All-Star Game, was named game MVP (two goals/one assist), becoming the first Blackhawk player to win the award since Bobby Hull in 1971. He often polarized Chicago fans because he showed a reluctance to involve himself in the physical (hitting) aspect of the game despite his prototypical power forward build. Instead he displayed a combination of size and good scoring ability, especially during key, or clutch, moments of the game. He possessed a quick wrist shot and an excellence with one-timers.

Unfortunately, Daze ran into severe back problems during his career, which limited him to only 19 games in the 2003–04 NHL season. Even after three herniated disc surgeries in a five-year span, pain was still a problem in Daze's back when he attempted to return to the Blackhawks in 2005. He quietly left professional hockey after appearing in only the season opener that year. On March 20, 2010, Daze officially announced his retirement on the Comcast Sportsnet pregame show before the Blackhawks game.

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1990–91 Laval Regents QAHA 30 25 20 45 30
1991–92 Laval Regents QAAA 35 30 29 59 40 12 8 10 18 8
1991–92 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 1 0 0 0 0
1992–93 Hull Olympiques QMJHL 55 13 19 32 14
1992–93 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 13 6 17 23 10
1993–94 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 66 59 48 107 31 15 16 8 24 2
1994–95 Beauport Harfangs QMJHL 57 54 45 99 20 16 9 12 21 23
1994–95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 4 1 1 2 2 16 0 1 1 4
1995–96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 80 30 23 53 18 10 3 5 8 0
1996–97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 71 22 19 41 16 6 2 1 3 2
1997–98 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 80 31 11 42 22
1998–99 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 72 22 20 42 22
1999–00 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 59 23 13 36 28
2000–01 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 79 33 24 57 16
2001–02 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 82 38 32 70 36 5 0 0 0 2
2002–03 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 54 22 22 44 14
2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 19 4 7 11 0
2004–05 DNP — NHL lockout
2005–06 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 1 0 0 0 2
NHL totals 601 226 172 398 176 37 5 7 12 8
QMJHL totals 192 132 129 261 75 31 25 20 45 25

International statistics

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1995 Canada WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 8 2 10 0
1998 Canada WC 6th 3 1 4 5 0
1999 Canada WC 4th 2 0 1 1 0
Junior international totals 7 8 2 10 0
Senior international totals 5 1 5 6 0

See also


Preceded by
Yanick Dube
Winner of the CHL Sportsman of the Year Award
1995
Succeeded by
Hnat Domenichelli
Preceded by
Yanick Dube
Winner of the QMJHL Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy
1995
Succeeded by
Christian Dubé
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