Éric Dazé (born July 2, 1975) is a Canadian former 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 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, 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 The 1993 NHL Entry Draft was the 31st NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 26, 1993, at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec. First overall pick Alexandre Daigle is widely regarded today as one of the all-time greatest draft busts ...

by the Chicago Blackhawks (with the draft pick the Blackhawks received with

Stephane Beauregard Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (Ancient Greece), a vestment in ancient Greece * Stephane (Paphlagonia) Stephane ( grc, Στεφάνη) was a small port town on the coast of ancient Paphlagonia, according to Arria ...

for Dominik Hasek). He had early success and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

after scoring 30 goals as a rookie. He scored at least 20 goals in each season between

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, even when struggling with injuries, and was named to the NHL All-Star Game in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. 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 The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

. 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 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. 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.

Personal life

Daze is married to Guylaine, whom he met during his high school years. The couple have two children and the family resides in Hinsdale, Illinois.The Recovery of Éric Dazé
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Awards

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

— QMJHL First All-Star Team *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

— QMJHL First All-Star Team *1995 — QMJHL

Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy The Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most sportsmanlike player in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The award began in the 1969–70 season as a team trophy awarded to the league's West Division champions. It has bee ...

(Most Gentlemanly Player) *1995 — CHL Sportsman of the Year Award *

— NHL All-Rookie Team *

— Played in NHL All-Star Game *2002 — NHL All-Star Game MVP

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Eric Dazé biography at The Hockey Writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daze, Eric 1975 births Living people Beauport Harfangs players Canadian ice hockey forwards Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Hull Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Montreal National Hockey League All-Stars