Fortier?

[tokyohabs]

Curious about this guy...

And the other guys as well. Anyone seen any of them play this year? We get news on a few prospects, but nothing that I've seen on Fortier. Or did I just dream that the Habs did not pick a D-man after the 1st round?

Cheers

[BTH]

I'm not sure about his production but he's a defensive-minded player so his goalscoring isn't all that relevant anyways. He's a guy most of us overlook, he seems to be in the Chipchura mould. At his draft, a lot of scouts considered him to be both the best defensive forward and the smartest player in the entire draft class. Since our third line centre position is filled for the next years, I'm only expecting him to be a fourth line C for us.

It's still nice to have reliable guys like Fortier, Chipchura, Lapierre, Latendresse etc playing on your bottom lines, it gives you a lot of depth.

Sorry, I couldn't answer the original question though.

[tokyohabs]

Thanks BTH, don't apologise, that's more than I knew!

And change that bloody avatar! Surely Santa can be nice to you this Christmas?

[Partisan]

if less physical than Chipchura he's a really faster skater in the mold of Guy Carbonneau in my mind to complete what TBH said

Olivier Fortier [round 3 - drafted in 2007 from theCH]

centre, shoots from left, 5'11" 168Lb

2005-2006 : 40PG 6G 10P 16Pts

2006-2007 : 69PG 28G 36P 64Pts

2007-2008 : 31PG 12G 10P 22Pts so far early december

[Tony]

I've seen Fortier play. If he ever makes the NHL it's because of his defensive game. He's a faceoff machine too.

He needs to work on his offense because 90% of the points he gets are due to playing on the same like as Frolik. I wouldn't put him in the same mold as Chipchura because Chipchura still has some sort of offensive flair. Not much of a nose for the net for Fortier but he likes the work on the boards.

[tokyohabs]

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

[MAK]

as for white and maxwell...

White got invited to the team canada wjc camp. he has a nose to the net but he's not that fast and he's a bit stocky..should he lose 10 lbs, he'll be a 2nd-3rd line horse in a few years.

as for maxwell, he was tearing th whl last year before an injury. now, he's also injured right now but he's the closest of an offensive centre in the farm. I've heard comparaisons with brad richards but lets not get carried away, here. if he's anything close to brenden morrisson I'll be happy !!

Edited December 24, 2007 by marky_and_komi

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Fortier? McKeens called him the next or in the mould of "PJ Axelsson".

[Tony]

He could be the next Axelsson if he's paired up with someone decent who can score. Don't get me wrong. Offensively he's doing fine in the Q with what he has on his line but it helps to play with a top star in Frolik.

Basically, that line of Frolik-Fortier-Cornet works line this. Fortier wins the faceoffs (his percentage so far is like 54% but in the games I saw, he just dominates). After he wins the faceoffs, someone passes to Frolik and Frolik does whatever he wants with the puck.

One of Frolik's good skills is that he's a solid passer (and had a decent shot) and he seems to find Cornet or Fortier on the ice easily. Now, naturally, you can tell that Fortier doesn't have a drive for the net but that Frolik is sort of helping him develop some offensive instinct. While, it's good news that he's working on that, don't count on it so much that he'll become a scoring machine because quite frankly, he was put with Frolik because Frolik has so much latitude with the team that they needed to put someone on the line to make up for his defensive lapses (a.k.a. Fortier).

I'm I saying he has ZERO offensive skills? No, I'm not. He can shoot and he can pass but it's not something I would rely on to win games if I were a coach unless I pair him up with a superstar who lacks defensive coverage.