Standing on the podium in Vancouver, draft day 2006 ready to call the name of their first round pick, they knew.
The Habs knew that the name they had written down on their selection sheet was going to be a long term project, one of those high risk, high reward players.
Fischer had arrived there with quite a pedigree, '' Mr. Hockey '', First team All-State, and a few other honors.
'' Drafting American kids high in the States High School system was a bit of an off the chart things to do at the time, Toews and Kessel were playing in a great system and scouts had been following them for years, but most scouts did their heavy picking in the WHL and OHL, the kids coming out of those leagues were more in line with what the coaches wanted, they were tough, big and fast. ''
A Colombus Blue Jacket scout at the time looked on perplexed, as the kid who was making his way down the isle at pick number 20 was definitely one of those guys you're surprised to see get up this early.
'' The interview with this kid left you with a feeling he was seeing the whole combine as a joke, but at that time some scouts interpreted that as bravado, we didn't. We take our job seriously. ''
Inevitably, Fischer arrived at the podium and following a few handshakes and cap fitting, left for his family and friends who were waiting for him, now a Hab.
Timmins at the time said ( to Hockey's Future ) :
We would have happily taken Fischer at 16, but we took a calculated risk. We looked at the teams that would be picking before us and we didn’t think they would choose him. Throughout the year, you get an idea of who people like. You take notice of who is in the rink.”
His first season with the Gophers would also include a quick stint with the National development program where he was evaluated for a stint with the Junior National team. An evaluation that would not see him selected but at that time, team USA was considered deep on defence.
This scenario would be a precursor to the rest of Fischer's career
An important part, when it comes to understanding Fischer's drop off, is Gopher's coach Don Lucia, who would mentor Fischer throughout his entire stint in the NCAA. Hockey observers as soon as 2007 would start questioning Lucia's methods and development abilities.
Garth Snow ( Islanders GM ) :
Okposo was an important player for us, and we quickly realized that the program there was an absolute mess. Kyle wasn't getting better, to many of our guys, he was regressing. We were angry, the whole point of putting these kids through US Colleges is to take advantage of the schedule there to help them improve and develop, and quite frankly the coach bears a huge part of that responsibility.
It didn't help that his teams would perform poorly during the collegiate schedule, Fischer's appearances at Habs development camps would raise questions on how by 2009 Fischer had not only failed to fill up his impressive frame, but start to even regress when it came to the availability of his offensive arsenal.
An ex-Hab scout :
Development camps always end with a meeting where we have the coaching staff explain to the rookie what we want him to work on for the year ahead. I remember someone from conditioning coming out and telling me that he just photocopied last year's notes and gave them to David,
Fischer would continue his run with the Gopher's, making appearances at Habs rookie development camps along the way.
But come the summer of 2010, it was clear to Habs brass that Fischer had not panned out according to plan.
He was released only to make a brief appearance at the Canucks rookie development tournament that pitted the Canucks rookies against those of other teams.
To one Canuck broadcast observer :
He looks lost out there.
Only the future knows what's in store for David Fischer going forward, one thing is clear, for now it won't be in a Habs jersey.
