Translated from La Presse
It seems that we should never give up on Trevor Timmins. We doubted Carey Price when he failed to make the Junior National team on his first year. We didn’t believe in Andrei Kostitsyn who was slow to develop. Will another first round draft pick, David Fischer drafted 20th overall in 2006, fool us?
Fischer had two ordinary seasons with the Minnesota University’s Gophers but third time may be a charm. The young man registered 7 point in 7 games and is +8 (best defensemen on his team). Minnesota is second best team in the country (5-0-2) and the and the head coach is pleased with Fischer’s play.
“He is one of the main reasons for our success” said Don Lucia. “David has an incredible start. He really raised his game one level. He is heavier, close to 200 pounds. I use him in power play, penalty killing, four on four, against the best opponents and he is on the ice when we have to protect a small lead.”
“Maybe we asked him to fill a role he wasn’t ready for last year. We didn’t have a choice. With the departure of Erik Johnson and Alex Goligoski who signed professional contracts, we had to put him on our first defensive pairing on his second year. He would have been more comfortable on the second pairing but maybe the experience prepared him for this year.”
Mark Guentzel, Gopher’s assistant coach last year, often compared Fischer to Paul Martin, number one defensemen with the New Jersey Devils. Lucia disagrees. “They both like to use their stick more than their body to counter the opposition but David doesn’t move the puck as well as Martin did at this stage of his career. But David has better vision of the game and makes faster passes than before.”
“We see a future NHL player in him but he’s not there yet. I don’t think he’ll reach full physical maturity before 25 years old. He should be around 220 by then and he’ll be ready to play in every situations.
Trevor Timmins said the Canadiens will see in March if the young man will be ready to play professional or if he’ll stay at the Minnesota University.