As seen on YouTube: Didier and his Cedar Rapids teammates capture the 2010-11 Anderson Cup, awarded to the USHL team with best overall regular season record.
The Specs: Here we have a 6’2″, 199-pound defenceman born April 8th, 1993 from Littleton, Colorado. He was the Habs’ first of three selections in the fourth round (97th overall) this past NHL Entry Draft. He spent last season with Cedar Rapids of the USHL where 8 goals, 13 assists, and 81 penalty minutes were recorded in 58 games.
The Skinny: Word around the interwebs is that Didier is a potential workhorse defenseman with strong skating skills and play-reading abilities, but not enough of the latter to be effective on the offensive side of things just yet. His upcoming seasons in the NCAA will prove key in figuring out if that level of his game can be reached.
The Stats:
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2010-11 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL | 58 | 8 | 13 | 81 | 5 | -4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
What you’ve probably heard by now: Not much. Of course, apart from the post-draft groaning about too many draftees who turn out to be defensemen.
What you may not know: Didier is currently committed to the University of Denver program where he will major in business. A former University of Denver scholar is also in the Canadiens’ system–Brock Trotter.
Pierre Gauthier’s take: “He’s a big guy with a lot of potential. Like all the players we draft, it’s a question of development.”
His own take: “I’m a stay at home defenseman and my favorite thing to do is block shots and kill penalties, but I’ve been trying to develop the offensive part of my game to become a more complete player.”
On getting into the game: “I was probably 2 or 3 when I started skating. My dad’s from Chicago, he always loved watching hockey and the Blackhawks, and my mom’s Canadian.”
On educational values learned in Cedar Rapids: “I was taking courses while I was there so I could graduate high school and those helped prepared me for college hockey in terms of how to balance hockey and school and do well at both.”
Social Media User?: Potentially–@jdidier52 appears to be a recent addition to the Twitterverse with about twenty-something followers and two tweets, at last check.