Éric Dazé (born July 2, 1975) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

winger who played for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

for eleven seasons from 1995 to 2005.

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 The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL) before being traded to the

Beauport Harfangs The Beauport Harfangs (Snow Owls) were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 1990 to 1997. The team played its home games at the Aréna Marcel-Bédard in the Quebec City suburb of Beauport. The team's firs ...

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 The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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

(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 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, even when struggling with injuries, and was named to the

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. 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 Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...

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. 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 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. 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 Hinsdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of 17,395 ...

.The Recovery of Éric Dazé
/ref>

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

—

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

First All-Star Team *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

— QMJHL First All-Star Team * 1995 — QMJHL Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy (Most Gentlemanly Player) * 1995 — CHL Sportsman of the Year Award *

— NHL All-Rookie Team *

— Played in

*2002 — NHL All-Star Game MVP

References

External links

* {{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