Pierre Dagenais

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Pierre Dagenais (Born March 4, 1978 in Blainville, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player.

Position: Left / Right wing
Shoots: Left
Height: 6 ft 3 in
Weight: 209 lbs

Contents

1 Career History

1.1 QMJHL (1995-1998)
1.2 AHL (1998-2000)
1.3 New Jersey Devils (2000-2001)
1.4 Florida Panthers (2001-2003)
1.5 Montreal Canadiens (2003-2006)

2 See also

Career History

QMJHL (1995-1998)

Pierre Dagenais started his junior career by being drafted by the Moncton Alpines in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) at the age of 17 years old. He quickly became a young star on his team, being the leader in points and goal in his first year with the Alpines in the 1995-96 season. During the 1996 summer, the New Jersey Devils drafted him in the second round (47th overall) of the National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft.

The following year, the Moncton Alpines changed their name to become the Moncton Wildcats. Dagenais was traded to the Laval Titan after six games. The Wildcats got Mathieu Letourneau in return for the young prospect. At mid-season he got traded once again to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in return for Yannick Hubert and Jean-Philippe Soucy for him. The Huskies didn't made it to the playoffs that year.

In the 1997-98 season, Dagenais exploded. He led the QMJHL in goals and was second in points. That was also the year that Dagenais met his best friend to date, Mike Ribeiro, who finished second in points after Pierre. By playing on the same line all the season, Ribeiro and Dagenais developed a great friendship. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies lost in the first round of the playoffs.

In the summer of 1998, Dagenais had not yet signed a contract with the New Jersey, so he was once again up for the draft. This time he was selected in the fourth round and one more time, he was drafted by the New Jersey Devils.

AHL (1998-2000)

The 1998-99 season was Dagenais' professional hockey debut. He played with the New Jersey Devils' affiliate team in the American Hockey League (AHL), the Albany River Rats. In 69 games, he scored 17 goals and got 13 assists for a total of 30 points. In the playoffs, the River Rats didn't last too long. The Hamilton Bulldogs defeated them in the first round. The Albany battled hard, but after 3 games they were losing 2-1. They won the fourth game to go to an ultimate fifth game. Dagenais was scratched for the first time in the playoffs for this last game.

The 1999-00 season was better than his first professional season. He finished among the top scorers in the league with 35 goals. He also revealed himself to be a key player for the team. Sadly, the Albany were once again defeated in the first round, but this time by the Rochester. They battled hard again, but were eliminated in 5 games.

New Jersey Devils (2000-2001)

In 2000-01 season Dagenais made it to the NHL. He played 9 games, scoring 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points.

Florida Panthers (2001-2003)

The 2001-02 season was statistically his worst season. He played 16 games with the Devils scoring 6 points; 6 games with the River Rats scoring 2 points, 4 games with the Utah Grizzlies scoring 2 points and eventually he got traded to the Florida Panthers with who he played 26 games for 8 points. The Panthers finished 14th in the Eastern Conference.

The 2002-03 season was another tough year for Dagenais. First, after trying to show his abilities during the training camp, he was sent to the affiliate AHL team, the San Antonio Rampage. Dagenais played 49 difficult games and he ended up with 35 points. Finally, he played 9 games with Florida. He scored no points.

Montreal Canadiens (2003-2006)

During the summer 2003, Montreal Canadiens' general manager Bob Gainey surprised some by signing Dagenais to a one year contract. Pierre Dagenais was really happy to play for his dream team and of course to play with his old friend Mike Ribeiro.

Dagenais started the 2003-04 season with the Canadien's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Within 20 games, he scored 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points. He was called up to the big team and played his first game with the Canadiens, December 18 2003 against the Nashville Predators. He played 50 games on the Habs' second line with Mike Ribeiro and Michael Ryder. The line was the most productive of the team and Dagenais scored 27 points. Montreal surprised many people by getting into the playoffs and making it to the second round. Dagenais only scored 1 point, proving once again that he is not as good in the playoffs as he is in the regular season.

In the 2004-2005 hockey season Dagenais chose to play in Europe during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. He played 7 games with the HC Ajoie team in Switzerland.

He is presently under contract with the Montreal Canadiens and will become a restricted free agent during the summer of 2006.

However, after the disappointed start of season 2005-2006, he was send back to the Hamilton Bulldogs at January 6th