Trying to live up to the height
Lightning left wing Mitch Fritz is impossible to overlook at 6 feet 8, but this season he's working on making as big of a statement with his play.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published September 21, 2006
WASHINGTON - Oh, my gosh, Mitch Fritz is big.
Not just in terms of body size, which at 6 feet 8, 260 pounds is considerable, but in the sense the Lightning left wing is imposing.
The substantial arms, the shock of blondish brown hair and the goatee that provides a touch of edginess to the profile of a player who, the story goes, never lost an AHL fight.
Add 3 inches when Fritz is on skates and it seems as if you are looking at a head on top of Mount Rushmore.
"He's a tough guy," Tampa Bay chief scout Jake Goertzen said. "That's for sure."
But even tough guys have their vulnerabilities, especially in the new NHL, which has curtailed fighting and, consequently, forced tough guys to make critical adjustments to remain relevant.
That, to an extent, is what faces Fritz.
He covets a fourth-line position but must prove he can play six or seven minutes as an integral part of the team, not just as someone out there to bust heads.
That is why Wednesday night's preseason opener with the Capitals at the Verizon Center was so important.
With a second round of cuts coming after Friday's game at Detroit, and 35 players on the trip, it is possible Fritz will get just one game to show what he can do.
He did fine in the 3-2 overtime victory, playing 7:15 and getting two shots on goal without even sniffing an altercation.
Not that Fritz, 25 and a native of Osoyoos, British Columbia, wouldn't have fought. Sometimes you have to go with your strength.
But as he said before the game, "In the new NHL you have to show some ability. You can't just be one-dimensional. You can't just be a physical player. They don't want to take up a roster spot with someone who plays a minute or two minutes a game."
For Fritz, that means skating better, something he said he has worked on pretty much his entire career.
Last summer he added "quick-feet" work and plyometrics, which built leg strength.
During four days of scrimmages in Brandon, Fritz had three goals and an assist. A nice step after a season with AHL Springfield in which he scored six goals, his most as a pro and equal to his total in two previous seasons, and five assists.
"He's capable," Goertzen said. "He has improved and he does have some hands."
That as fists look and hit like sledgehammers.
Fritz said he didn't really fight much before playing organized hockey. But his size and skill level dictated he fight or sit. Fritz said after he began playing juniors he began studying boxing.
He had 212 penalty minutes in 69 games last season, and 179 in 45 games in 2004-05. His record is 284 in 2001-02 for ECHL Columbus.
Fritz said he doesn't mind fighting - "You get used to it." - and still believes there is a place for enforcers.
The Lightning believes that, too. Without one, general manager Jay Feaster said of last season, "We weren't always a difficult team to play."
That led to retooling the fourth line into what is hoped will be a banging, disruptive force. Having someone who can throw down would help keep to a minimum some of the rough stuff directed toward players such as Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards.
Fritz said he believes he can fill that role. Maybe not this season, but when his skating goes to the next level.
"I'll probably have to work on my skating until the day I stop," he said. "I'm okay with that. It's something I can work on.
"If you're a small guy, you can't work on being bigger."
And Mitch Fritz is big.