HAMILTON, Ont–As a kid growing up in Quebec City, he got used to being teased about his size. The names he heard don’t really matter now. But you could probably guess some of the barbs that’d be directed at the smallest guy on every team for which he ever played.
David Desharnais–Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL
“It was a motivation to me,” he says. “Everyone thought I couldn’t make it.” So there’s no small sense of satisfaction bubbling within David Desharnais — pronounced Day Har Nay — these days. At 5-foot-6, the Hamilton Bulldogs’ freshman centre may be the smallest player in the entire American Hockey League (tied with Portland’s Nathan Gerbe), yet he’s in the top-10 in rookie scoring, is fourth on the team’s point chart, and has quickly earned the respect of his coach. And, the other day, he was signed to a two-year NHL contract. There’s nothing small about that. His story is one that wouldn’t have been told a decade ago. Twice a 100-point producer with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the offence-happy Quebec Junior League, not one NHL team thought he was worth risking a draft pick on. In his three years of eligibility, 734 players were taken. Not him. Nobody thought a guy his size could make it. But the game has changed in recent years. A crackdown on clutching and grabbing and hooking has given undersized players a fighting chance. So you figured a guy who can score like that would eventually get a look somewhere. After a seven-game stint with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the end of the 2007 season, Montreal invited him to training camp then assigned him to Hamilton. From there, he was bumped down to Cincinnati of the ECHL where most figured he’d never be heard from again. Except he forgot to follow the script. Instead of becoming a mere roster filler, Desharnais led the league in scoring, led the league in playoff scoring, was named rookie of the year, was named to the ECHL all-star team and led his team to the championship. Everyone, it seems, was surprised. Except him. “I’ve always played the same,” he says. “In my mind, I was going to play hockey all my life.” So, when he got a crack at the Bulldogs this fall, he grabbed it through a combination of quickness, hustle, fearlessness and effort that prevents him from being lost in a game full of men half a foot taller than he. Usually more. “He’s always noticeable,” says Bulldogs head coach Don Lever. His 10 points in 14 games are nice, but what’s really grabbed the attention of the coach is the 22-year-old’s penalty killing. Not everyone can excel at a facet of the game that combines an ability to change directions on a dime with a strong hockey sense. Speed is key, but so is anticipation and positioning. As well as having no jitters when it comes to getting in front of a slapshot from the point.
David Desharnais–Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL
Even so, size hasn’t become a complete non-factor. If it wasn’t, you’d have to claim the fact all but three of his teammates are over six feet tall is a fluke. And we know that’s not the case. Talented is good. Big and talented is better. Lever acknowledges that little guys will always have to do something extra to get noticed and to prove they can survive and thrive among the giants. Desharnais himself doesn’t pretend otherwise and acknowledges that, as close as he is to his NHL dream today, he’s still a long way away. “I have to deal with (the height obstacle),” he says. “I’m not going to be taller.” As for those guys who teased him as he advanced in the game, it’s worth asking how many of them have NHL contracts and are playing pro anywhere? “Not a lot,” he smiles. “I’m teasing them now.” Contact the author at:
andruw.bourgeois@prohockeynews.comRelated
