Doug Wickenheiser Doug Wickenheiser ( March 30 , 1961 – January 12 , 1999 ) was a Canadian player . He was drafted first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft . Career . Wickenheiser was born in Regina , Saskatchewan , Canada . A superstar in Major Junior hockey with the Regina Pats , he led the Western Hockey League in goal scoring ( 89 ) during the 1979 – 80 WHL season , captained the Pats to a berth in the Memorial Cup , and was the CHL Player of the Year . Wickenheiser was rated by The Hockey News as the top draft prospect in 1980 and was subsequently selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens . Many Canadiens ' fans , particularly French Canadian fans who desperately wanted the club to select francophone star Denis Savard , were unhappy with the selection , and Montreal media attention soon turned negative . While Wickenheiser struggled to adjust to the NHL game , Savard ( drafted third overall ) would quickly become a superstar with the Chicago Blackhawks , further angering some Montreal fans . In his fourth season with the Canadiens , the club lost patience with Wickenheiser ' s slow development and traded him to the St . Louis Blues . Probably his most famous moment with the Blues was during the 1985 – 86 playoffs in a game dubbed the " The Monday Night Miracle " on May 12 , 1986 , when after St . Louis made a large comeback against the Calgary Flames , Wickenheiser scored the overtime winner to force a Game 7 in the Campbell Conference Finals . The Blues would lose the deciding game 2 – 1 , however . During his NHL career , Wickenheiser also played for the Vancouver Canucks , New York Rangers and Washington Capitals . In 556 games , he scored 111 goals and 165 assists and is widely regarded as one of the NHL ' s greatest draft busts . Battle with Cancer . In August 1994 , Wickenheiser had a malignant cyst removed from his wrist - which he had first noticed four years earlier in 1990 . Three years later , in October 1997 , he was diagnosed with an inoperable form of cancer in his lung . Wickenheiser was only 37 when he died from lung and brain cancer on January 12 , 1999 , in St . Louis , Missouri . He is survived by his wife and three daughters . His life story was memorialized in the book " The Last Face Off : The Doug Wickenheiser Story " written in March 2000 by Ted Pepple , Wickenheiser ' s father - in - law . The Mid - States Club Hockey Association , the governing body for high school hockey in St . Louis , named their championship trophy for small school / second division teams in his honor . He is interred at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Valley Park , Missouri . Legacy . An arena in his hometown of Regina , Saskatchewan , has been named " Doug Wickenheiser Arena " in his honor . While the St . Louis Blues did not retire his number 14 , Blues ' players wore a special helmet decal with the wick of a candle and the number 14 during parts of the 1997 – 98 and 1998 – 99 seasons . In 1999 a banner with that logo , which became the symbol of " The Fourteen Fund " , the official Blues charity established in his memory , was permanently placed in the rafters at the Blues home rink . The emblem was worn by all NHL players in the 1999 NHL All - Star Game , and was also sold to the public for a small donation and became a popular trend among youth hockey players in St . Louis .