Stefan Fournier signs as a player/assistant coach with the Wichita Thunder

Stefan Fournier with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Credit: Flickr.com


If you were a more dedicated fan of the Montreal Canadiens back in 2013, the name Stefan Fournier might actually ring a bell or two.

A native of nearby Dorval, Quebec, Fournier was minding his business as an above average middle six scorer in the QMJHL for the majority of his junior career, not attracting much attention until his final, over age season, where he found himself as Jonathan Drouin’s linemate with the Halifax Mooseheads during their Memorial Cup Run. Playing alongside the former 3rd overall pick, Fournier put up 16 goals in 17 playoff games, to go along with 72 points in the regular season. Despite this, his status as an over ager and relatively unimpressive numbers before caused him to go undrafted, signing with the Montreal Canadiens as a free agent in July of 2013.

While the team hoped he could replicate his scoring success, it’s been his fists that have kept him around, as he never put up more than 4 points in an AHL season. Aside from this, Fournier was also a throw in in the infamous John Scott trade in Montreal, where is probably where most other NHL fans will recognize him.

Early on, he did play in a few preseason games for the Habs, where he got some media coverage due to his local, undrafted free agent story, and even got into a scrap with Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid. Since then though, Fournier hasn’t gotten another NHL look, minding his time as a 4th line AHL enforcer, and nowadays, ECHL 2nd line scorer, spending the past 3 years in the league, most notably with the Wichita Thunder.



This led him to resign with the team on July 10th, 2019, as a player/assistant coach. In minor league hockey, this type of role hasn’t been seen for quite some time and is more a remnant of the 90s era of minor league hockey then today and stood out to me when I saw it on the Elite Prospects transactions page.



“I’m excited to bring back Stefan Fournier as our Player/Assistant coach,” Thunder head coach Bruce Ramsay said in an interview with the Kansan. “He has a wealth of experience playing in the AHL and made a great impression when he joined the team this past season, on and off the ice. I plan on using him in all kinds of situations and leaning on him as we build the team the for the coming season.”

At 27 years old, Fournier is still in the prime of his career, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the team in the upcoming season. The Thunder were one of the more popular teams in the East Coast league, rumored to have average a higher attendance than even the AHL’s Laval Rocket, the Canadiens farm team. With 29 points in 38 games last year with the team, look for him to increase those totals and possibly earn a quick look at the AHL level. While his NHL dreams are most likely over, Fournier still has a lot of hockey left to play, both in the ECHL and possibly in the American league.

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