Chosen One: Alexandre Daigle

This was a very well-made documentary following Alexandre Daigle's journey to the NHL and the life that came out of it.

It was a very revealing documentary, particularly the scrutiny that these players are put under when they aren't necessarily ready for the pressure. Alex was a perfect subject to follow, as a No. 1 pick who became a bust. He languished in a terrible Ottawa Senators era when he was the one everyone expected to turn the team around. But it just doesn't work when you don't have the support for your top players in place and the pressure crushed his spirit for the game, eventually leading to burnout and depression after he was moved around the league.

The best part of the documentary, in my opinion, is how he bounced back from this era of burnout. He moved away from the NHL for a period and did other things that he enjoyed, including playing in a beer league. From there, he was able to reignite his passion and come back to the league with a different mentality, before moving to Europe and achieving his greatest successes. It's a story that I find very relatable and important, and highly recommend this doc to everyone, particularly hockey fans.

I was born in 2000, by then Daigle's career had become a joke. My love for hockey history eventually had me aware of his story, and I was quite content at laughing at him for things I, and seemingly everyone else at the time, new nothing about.

The documentary paints a very positive story of Daigle's life, perhaps it was a little soft on him at certain points but still revealed the true mental struggle behind Daigle's on-ice shortcomings. I was very satisfied with the documentary, and it's easy to watch with its 49 minute run time.

PS: While the doc does talk about Daigle's "nobody remembers second place" quote and that Chris Pronger was chosen second, they left out how unbelievably amazing Chris Pronger went on to be, now reverted as one of the greatest defensemen to play the game. I think it was important to talk about this part of the story because it really added to the media's bashing of Daigle that Pronger quickly blossomed in St. Louis by the time Daigle was about to leave Ottawa.