RWC REPORT: Fournier shoulders the load

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / October 20, 2009

Gleason Fournier found a great way to make up for lost time.

The Rimouski Oceanic defenseman was named the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's defensive player of the week after recording three goals and five assists in his first five games of the season. It’s a great start for a player who sat out most of training camp and the first nine games with a shoulder injury.

In fact, the 6-foot, 168-pounder has delayed surgery until next summer to repair his injured shoulder, making his start even more impressive.

Fournier, who just turned 18, had three goals and 25 assists in 66 games last season but was more of a depth player with the Memorial Cup hosts. These days, he’s getting top-pairing minutes and should blow past those totals.

It’s an encouraging sign for the Red Wings that Fournier is producing points early on. They drafted the slender, swift-skating blueliner 90th overall in June because of his end-to-end rushing ability and offensive upside.

NOTES: Defenseman Nick Jensen (Green Bay, United States Hockey League) will represent the U.S. at the world junior A challenge next month in Summerside, P.E.I. … Forward Willie Coetzee (Red Deer, Western Hockey League) continues to shine and is just a point off the WHL scoring lead … Forward Gustav Nyquist (Maine, Hockey East) is flying, with four goals and two assists in four games … Forward Tomas Tatar (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) had an assist in his pro debut. At 18, he is the youngest player in the AHL.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Dick Axelsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	2	1	3	2
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	1	1	2	2
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	2	2	2
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	1	1	2	4
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	1	0	1	4
Tomas Tatar	Grand Rapids	AHL	1	0	1	1	0
Francis Pare	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	0	1	1	0
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	1	1	0
Sebastien Piche	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	0	0	0	2
Travis Ehrhardt	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	0	0	0	6
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	0	0	0	0
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	0
S W E D E N
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	10	3	2	5	8
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	10	0	5	5	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	10	0	1	1	6
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	6	1	1	2	6
Adam Almqvist	HV-71	SWE-J20	10	5	20	25	12
C H L
Willie Coetzee	Red Deer	WHL	12	7	14	21	2
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	13	7	7	14	20
Andrej Nestrasil	Victoriaville	QMJHL	12	5	9	14	12
Mitchell Callahan	Kelowna	WHL	11	3	8	11	27
Gleason Fournier	Rimouski	QMJHL	5	3	5	8	14
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	11	4	3	7	16
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	12	2	3	5	17
Landon Ferraro	Red Deer	WHL	5	1	1	2	0
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	4	4	2	6	0
Brian Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	4	1	2	3	4
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	1	0	1	1	0
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	ECAC	4	0	1	1	4
Max Nicastro	Boston U.	HE	1	0	0	0	2
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud St.	WCHA	4	0	0	0	2
U S H L
Nick Jensen	Green Bay	USHL	5	0	2	2	4

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Jordan Pearce	Toledo	ECHL	1	1-0-0	2.00	.946
Thomas McCollum	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	1-2-0	2.92	.883
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	0-2-0	6.56	.795