Wings' Fischer has stage fright

Rookie defenseman acts the part, but no one frets in 3-1 win over Rangers

September 13, 1999

BY NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

At times, rookie defenseman Jiri Fischer looks a lot like a young Larry Robinson: big, strong, smart, smooth and calm. At other times, as in the Red Wings' 3-1 exhibition victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday, he acts his age: 19 years old.

Before 15,212 fans, stick sometimes shaking in his hands, Fischer appeared for the first time at Joe Louis Arena and experienced the normal jitters of a big-time prospect. He insisted he was completely comfortable, but he didn't appear to be until late.

Wings management wasn't worried. Problems are part of the process. Although Fischer has the ability to win the seventh position on defense over Jesse Wallin, Yan Golubovsky and Maxim Kuznetsov, no one expected him to play perfectly in the opener.

"He's nervous, because he cares," assistant general manager Jim Nill said. "That's all right. He's a young kid, playing with pretty good players now, and he wants to make the team. These things happen. It's human nature."

Paired with top defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, Fischer often faced the Rangers' top line of Theoren Fleury, Valeri Kamensky and rookie Mike York (MSU). In the first period, Fischer was welcomed to the NHL. Rudely.

A loose puck dribbled toward the blue line off a face-off in the New York zone. Fischer lunged toward it. But so did Lidstrom. Neither got to it. The miscommunication allowed Kamensky and Fleury to take off on a two-on-none rush, and Fleury scored at 3:54, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Although the play wasn't necessarily Fischer's fault, it appeared to rattle him. Soon afterward, he had the puck alone to the left of his own net. Head up, he tried to make a dangerous pass across the slot but fanned on it, and the puck dribbled to Kamensky at point-blank range.

Later, a Ranger beat him deep in his own zone. But Fischer refused to dwell on the negative.

"You just try to forget about it," he said. "You just try to learn something from it, so hopefully it won't happen again. You just try to remember the good things instead of the bad things."

Fischer wasn't the only story on defense.

Mathieu Dandenault impressed, playing physically and scoring the Wings' first goal at 7:56 of the first period. Steve Duchesne, signed days before training camp for his offensive touch, pumped his fists after scoring a power-play goal 3:27 into the second. Duchesne also assisted on Slava Kozlov's third-period goal.

"I was very happy," Duchesne said. "It's exciting. Those guys are so talented, you've just got to get yourself open, and they'll find you."

Goaltender Manny Legace stopped 13 of 14 shots over the first two periods. He's still expected to be a third-stringer, but management has noticed him and might award him the backup job over veteran Ken Wregget.

On offense, coach Scotty Bowman tinkered as expected.

Sergei Fedorov centered the first line, with Steve Yzerman on his left and Doug Brown on his right. Kozlov played between Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby; Igor Larionov between Randy Burridge and Martin Lapointe; and Kris Draper between rookie Yuri Butsayev and Stacy Roest.

Burridge, a 13-year veteran who probably will retire if he doesn't make the team, looked a step slow. 1