Alex Joseph Jean Tanguay (born November 21, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes in the National Hockey League (NHL) and briefly for HC Lugano in the Swiss National League A in 2004.

An alumnus of the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Tanguay has his jersey retired.

Individually, he was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy following his rookie season and was chosen to the 2004 All-Star Game during his six-year tenure with Colorado.

In July 2006, he was traded to the Flames and spent two years with the club before single-season stints with the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.

[2] Tanguay made his NHL debut on October 5, 1999, against the Nashville Predators and scored his first point that night, recording an assist on a Claude Lemieux goal as part of a 3–2 Colorado win.

[12] Though he struggled at times adjusting to play in the NHL,[9] he finished the season second in the league amongst rookies with 51 points,[3] 19 behind rookie-leader Scott Gomez.

[2] In game seven of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, Tanguay scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist in a 3–1 victory against the New Jersey Devils.

[16] While the 2004–05 season was cancelled by a labour dispute, Tanguay signed to play for HC Lugano of the Swiss National League A.

[2] He returned to the Avalanche in 2005–06, and despite missing ten games late in the year with a knee injury, set a personal best with 29 goals, while his 78 points was one short of his career high.

[3] The 2007–08 season was a difficult one for Tanguay, as speculation that he would not mesh well with new coach Mike Keenan's style resulted in his being the subject of trade rumours throughout the year.

[21][22] Pre-season fears of a conflict with Keenan were realized, as the coach reduced his time on the power play and forced him into a defensive role he was not comfortable with.

[23] Unhappy with being pushed into a checking role, and believing that the way Keenan was using him was not allowing him to give the Flames fair value on his contract, Tanguay requested a trade at the Christmas break.

He and general manager Darryl Sutter agreed to keep it quiet so as not to become a distraction to the team, although Tanguay's request was revealed in the off-season.

[26] He ranked third in team-scoring at the end of the month when he suffered a separated left shoulder as a result of a hit by Evgeny Artyukhin of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

[28] He instead agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2009–10 season after passing a physical exam on his shoulder.

On February 2, 2013, in a 3–2 shoot-out defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks, Tanguay registered his 500th career assist on a Dennis Wideman goal.

[39] With the Flames embracing a rebuild of the team, on June 27, 2013, Tanguay was traded back to his original club, the Colorado Avalanche, along with Cory Sarich in exchange for Shane O'Brien and David Jones.

He was instrumental in Colorado's league best start to the season until he suffered a knee injury after 13 games in a contest against the Montreal Canadiens on November 2, 2013.

[42] In the final season of his contract with the Avalanche in 2015–16, Tanguay struggled to retain his offensive role in the top six, registering just 4 goals in 52 games.

On February 29, 2016 Tanguay was traded to the Arizona Coyotes along with Conner Bleackley and Kyle Wood in exchange for Mikkel Bødker.

On February 16, 2017, he officially noted his retirement from professional hockey in accepting a Studio analyst role for the NHL Network.

[47] Calgary teammates Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla both praised his ability to find a way to pass the puck to them in difficult plays.