Jean-Jacques Daigneault: Two Signed Cards

J.J. Daigneault was a serviceable NHL defenseman who started out as a fast-skating, puck-moving type who was prone to puck-handling mistakes and may have been considered a defensive-zone liability, yet evolved into a dependable, serviceable defender later in his career.

As such, in his current position as the Montréal Canadiens' defense coach since 2012, he is teaching players to learn from his past mistakes, and not to make them themselves.

A childhood friend and teammate of Pittsburgh Penguins legend and owner Mario Lemieux and current Habs GM Marc Bergevin, chances are he'll never be out of work for long in hockey, but I am under the impression that this may be his last season in this current stint in Montréal; Claude Julien is back and will want to work with folks he knows, guys that complement his areas of expertise, and I feel Doug Jarvis might be on his way back, although he's just one year into a similar position with the Vancouver Canucks. The 'Nucks let head coach Willie Desjardins go last April, taking Perry Pearn and Doug Lidster along with him to the unemployment office, and I believe that when the transition is assured between the players and new bench boss Travis Green is assured, he'll be allowed to look for new opportunities as well.

Too bad this will come months after Phil Housley left the Nashville Predators for the Buffalo Sabres, as Daigneault, a former Preds defenseman who coached three of the team's defensemen in Montréal (P.K. Subban, Alexei Emelin and Yannick Weber) would have been a perfect fit there.

Here he is back in that era when the Preds had a fine "dark" (blue, with grey and yellowish-gold as highlight colours) uniform, sporting the alternate captain's "A", on the signed insert version of card #76 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set:

It's the "silver" version, which he signed in black sharpie. Obviously, one of these is available for trade (or may be included as a bonus in another trade).

Jean-Jacques Daigneault: 3 Autographed Cards

Jean-Jacques ''J.J.'' Daigneault held an NHL record for a while, but Mike Sillinger broke it prior to the 2006-07 season. Which one, you may ask? That of having played for the most NHL teams in their careers. Daigneault is now tied for second (with Michel Petit), with 11.

Drafted 10th overall in 1984 by the Vancouver Canucks (behind Mario Lemieux, Kirk Muller, Shayne Corson, Al Iafrate and Petr Svoboda, and ahead of Gary Roberts, Kevin Hatcher, Scott Mellanby, Stéphane Richer, Jeff Brown, Ray Sheppard, Gary Suter, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, baseball legend Tom Glavine, and a goalie by the name of Patrick Roy), he only played two seasons in the rain before getting traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he made it to the Stanley Cup final in his very first season there, even scoring a game-winning goal in the Finals. Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers proved to be too strong, though.

Which is fine, because as a member of the Montréal Canadiens, he beat Gretzky's and Robitaille's Los Angeles Kings to win the Cup in 1993, with Muller and Roy as teammates.

At the end of the road, Daigneault was one game short of playing in 900 regular-season NHL games and another game short of 100 playoff games. He scored 53 goals and amassed 250 points in his career.

As a Hab, I remember him as a calming presence on the blue line, able to chip in with some powerplay time. I was surprised to see him getting traded for a career backup goalie in Pat Jablonski, but I don't run or own the team, so I let it slide.

Unlike other players, though, I didn't follow Daigneault's career much when he left town, in part because when the Habs descended into meaninglessness by trading Roy, I was in NYC getting my music career going and my interest had waned. At least I kept my cards...

I hadn't noticed when I sent him these, but all of these cards have a link to the NHL's 75th anniversary. First, from the 1991-92 Series 1 set from Upper Deck (card #170), sporting the Canadiens' classic red (away) jersey with the assistant captain's 'A':

Here he is wearing the team's white (home) uniform with a 75th anniversary patch, from Pro Set's 1992-93 Parkhurt (French Canadian Version) set (card #312):

And a ''throwback'' jersey from Score's 1992-93 Score (Canadian), card #311 (look at those intense eyes!):

Sure, this jersey looks a lot like the regular red one, but one quick look at the sleeves will reveal the team's logo in place of numbers...

I sent him these 3 cards and a fan letter on March 19th, 2012, and got them back on August 15th, 2012, signed in black sharpie with his jersey number (48) tagged at the end. Funny thing: I sent these care of the Connecticut Whale, where he was an assistant coach, and that's where they were sent back from (postmarked August 11th), but he was named the Canadiens' assistant coach on June 29th, a story similar to that of my Patrice Brisebois cards (also a 1993 Cup winner).