Fischer O'Brien was the subject of much admiration for his latest sporting accomplishment when he walked into his hockey class Thursday afternoon at Prince George secondary school.
Hockey is his favourite subject and the 15-year-old aced his test in the morning when the Lethbridge Hurricanes picked him in the fifth round as the 98th player chosen in WHL bantam draft.
"It's pretty exciting, they're a good team and I'm happy to be going there," said O'Brien.
O'Brien was the third-leading scorer on the Farr Fabricating bantam Cougars team that finished second in the Tier 1 provincial championship. In 18 games in the Okanagan Mainland Amateur Hockey Association he collected nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points. He was invited to the B.C. Cup under-16 tournament in Salmon Arm in April and tied for second in scoring with four goals and six points in four games.
"There was a lot of people talking to me after that tournament, I'd say that's what got me noticed the most," he said.
O'Brien started the season as a winger but coach Mirsad Mujcin switched him to centre, where he could take better advantage of his size to win faceoffs and utilize his speed to be the first one back to help out his defencemen.
"Fischer is a big kid and when he's engaged he plays a hard game," said Mujcin. "I moved him into the middle this year and he was skilled enough to take that role on and he was effective for our team. He shows a lot of versatility doing that. He's got really slick hands, he can dangle and get to the corners or walk off the walls and he does a lot of good things. Lethbridge is a good organization for him."
O'Brien was the only Prince George minor hockey player picked in the draft.
"He's got a great shot and he's still going to keep growing," said Mujcin. "Like most northern kids they always develop a little later and he's going to show his true talent at 17 or 18. Hopefully it carries him into the league like his brother and he can move forward from there."
At five-foot-10, 150 pounds, Fischer is similar in size to his older brother Brogan when he was a 15-year-old. Brogan grew to be a six-foot-three, 201-pounder in his final season in the WHL with the Cougars. He just capped a five-season junior career.
Starting out with the junior A Spruce Kings, he went on to play three seasons at centre with the Cougars before turning pro this spring in the ECHL with Kansas City.
Brogan talked to Fischer at school, right after the Hurricanes made their choice.
"He said he was happy for me," Fischer said.
Fischer said there was never any doubt what hockey path he wanted to follow and playing major junior is on top of the list. He's watched his brother play at that level the past three seasons and that was more than enough to set the hook.
"He kind of taught me lots of things about the WHL but I kind of knew what I was doing, I knew about the league," said Fischer. "I think it's the best league for junior players."
Fischer also followed in Brogan's footsteps to the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League and played two games this past season for the Cariboo Cougars. He hopes to make that team in the fall and if not will play for the new Cariboo Elite 15s in the inaugural season for the B.C. Hockey midget development program.
As a fifth-round pick, Fischer can now boast he was more coveted as a WHL prospect than Brogan, who was drafted by the Kelowna Rockets in the 10th round, 202nd overall in 2012. The Cougars traded for him in January 2015.
Fischer has been a sponge taking all the advice Brogan has been offering him. This summer, to get ready for his first WHL training camp in late August, he plans to work out in dryland training and ice sessions with his brother and Cougars director of player development Nick Drazenovic.
"I'm pretty skinny so hopefully I get a lot bigger," Fischer said.
