Junior defenseman David Fischer is still not skating and will not play this weekend in the home and home series with Minnesota State Mankato.

That’s not a huge surprise.

Fischer was hurt in the first game of the North Dakota series on Jan. 9. He was cut on the back of his lower right thigh by a skate blade in a pileup in that game.

The cut needed five stitches to close. He went on the ice again on Friday, then hobbled off the ice after attempting a shot from the left point.

The cut is not the issue with Fischer; it is probably all healed by now. He showed it to me a couple days after he got it. It did not look that bad. The real problem, Fischer said, was his torn tendon. It was a 90 percent tear. That is going to take time to heal.

Three weeks was the earliest he was expected back. The outer number was he would be out six weeks. So Gophers fans need to be patient.

Fischer was playing well. He had one goal and 11 assists and was a plus-11.

The injury might make it more likely that he will return for his senior season. Fischer was picked by the Montreal Canadiens with the 20th pick of the first round in 2006.

Even before he got hurt, Fischer was saying he would like to stay four years and finish his education. He is a communications major.

“That’s what his parents would like, they’d love him to get his degree,” said Joe Fischer, his father. “If he gets his degree, then he can turn his undivided attention to the NHL.

“That’s the philosophy we’ve used. We’re patitent. What’s one more year. Montreal has been great. They have not pressured him. We’ll find out what happens next summer. … One more year at Minnesota would not hurt him.”  

David Fischer also appreciates the way Montreal has dealt with him. “They are a little more hands off and I like that,” Fischer said. “I kind of told them that. They have their own season to worry about and so do I. So, during the year, there is minimal contact. Which is good.”

He has gone to three of the Canadiens’ development or prospects camps in the offseason.

“You are there for a week,” he said. “You skate and life and you do different activities. They do a great job of keeping things fresh. Every summer I’ve been there, we do different activities. I’ve gone to concerts, did a ropes course last summer. You hook onto these zip lines 80 feet up in the trees. There are cooking classes. They cover everything.”

Sounds like fun, except for those ropes soooo high up. What has that to do with hockey? Sounds like something on Fear Factor. Maybe that’s the point.

LUCIA IMPROVING

Gophers  caoch Don Lucia said on his semi-regular Monday night radio show on WCCO that he is feeling better.

I missed it because it is on so sporadically. Ever time I turn it on, there seems to be a Wild game on instead.

But Jim Stick, the Gophers’ assistant director of athletic communications for men’s hockey, listened and filled me in.

Lucia was at practice Monday and Tuesday. And, on the radio show, he said he was feeling better. On Wednesday of last week, he started five days of daily steroid treatments through IVs.

Those have been cut back now to once a week on Mondays for three weeks. Lucia said he feels kind of fatigued after those treatments, but notices a huge difference.

REGIONALIZATION COMING?

That’s the new buzzword in Division I sports. What it means is that in the early rounds of NCAA tournaments, the teams at a particular site will be from the region if possible. That saves money.

As an example, look no further than the NCAA volleyball tournament last fall. The U hosted two first-round games and one second-round game. The teams at the Sports Pavilion were the Gophers, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and Iowa State.

The games probably drew a little better …. but will this concept translate to hockey? Probably not so well.

An NCAA committee is meeting on this very subject next month. If it is approved for men’s hockey, this is what could happen:

Three of the teams in the Final Five on March 19-21 at the Xcel Energy Center could just stay in the Twin Cities for their next competition.

Assume the Gophers, North Dakota and Wisconsin all make the NCAA field. They could all be assigned to the regional at Mariucci Arena on Mar. 27-28.

How would you like that? WCHA teams knocking each other out before the Frozen Four set for April 9-11 in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps one or two rematches from the Final Five. WCHA officials can’t be too happy at the prospect of that.

This could be a big story if it happens. Stay tuned.

GOLD OUT COMING

Plans are being made for a “Gold out” for the Gophers-Wisconsin series Feb. 6-7 at Mariucci Arena. Fans will receive free gold T-shirts to wear supposedly.

If you remember, the Gophers faced a “White out” in Grand Forks, N.D., and got swept. Maybe 90 percent of the fans in the Ralph wore white for the two U-Sioux games there on Jan. 9-10.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.