When the Sabres played the Pittsburgh Penguins last week in PPG Paints Arena, Tom Fitzgerald was in the stands wearing all kinds of hats.
The New Jersey Devils' general manager was there to give an eye to the Penguins, the team his club was going to be playing in its next two games. He was able to say hello to old friends in the Burgh, where he won a Stanley Cup as the assistant GM in 2009. For all we know, he might have been eyeing up a few Sabres for a future conversation with Kevyn Adams.
All those are pretty common for Fitzgerald, who has been in front offices for 14 years after a 1,100-game career as a right wing for seven teams. The one role that was new to him on this night? NHL hockey dad.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was the opposing center for the first shift of Fitzgerald's NHL debut.
What Fitzgerald was mostly doing in the stands was rooting for his son, Casey, who was making his NHL debut. Casey Fitzgerald has been a Sabres prospect since being drafted in the third round in 2016 out of Boston College. He got the call with Robert Hagg down on a long-term injury and the Sabres thin at right defense.
The Sabres told Casey Fitzgerald to join them in Minnesota on last week's road trip and gave him two days notice he would not play against the Wild but would slot in for the second night of the back-to-back in Pittsburgh. He had been playing a huge role in Rochester and most observers of the club felt it was a matter of time for his first NHL callup. He texted his parents that the moment was at hand.
"I wasn't really shocked, but it was more just stunned," Tom Fitzgerald told The Buffalo News by phone this week while driving home to Boston for the holiday. "You're thinking, 'This is the day. Oh my God. That day, here it is.' It's what every player waits for. He was all excited because they had just played a game in Rochester and then the next day he told us they said he was playing in Pitt. My wife and I made arrangements to get there and we were so fortunate to watch him play. It was awesome."
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It was a busy debut for Casey Fitzgerald, who played 27 shifts totaling 16 minutes, 42 seconds. He got his first NHL point with an assist, had two shots on goal and even his first fight against Pittsburgh forward Sam Lafferty.
The night started, however, during the national anthem when Kerry Fitzgerald, Tom's wife and Casey's mother, noticed her son on the ice and not on the bench. Casey Fitzgerald was in the starting lineup – and Penguins legends Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang were starting against him.
"You have to understand, Casey was in Mario Lemieux's swimming pool, swimming around with Sid after we won the '09 Cup," Tom Fitzgerald said. "Casey went to the (U.S. National Development Team) Program and picked No. 58 because of Kris his first year. Kris Letang always has his head down during the anthem, the long hair going covering his head. Well, I looked at the Buffalo blue line and Casey had his head down, too. But with short hair."
A seamless transition
Casey Fitzgerald got a shot on goal on that first shift and quickly blended into the Buffalo blue-line rotation. After only 72 career games in the AHL, he wasn't overwhelmed at all.
"Doing what I do and seeing kids come up and transition from the American League to the NHL, I know that first game you're running on adrenalin so the speed is going to be fine," Tom Fitzgerald said. "And then the second part is if you make your plays, you're making them to NHL players who are in the right spot and can handle it. In some instances, it can be an easier transition for a player who moves the puck well, and thinks the game well enough because the other people around are always in the right spot.
"There were always different levels for Casey to get to, but in this case, the feeling you had was, 'This is it. He's played an NHL game. Whatever happens happens.' It's pro hockey. You can't get nervous. I can't do anything now. I played my NHL games. His mother, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck."
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No more so than during her son's fight with Lafferty, a slugfest where Casey Fitzgerald took up for teammate Vinnie Hinostroza after a big hit in the neutral zone. Television cameras caught his parents in the stands, with Tom cheering and applauding wildly and Kerry clearly holding her breath.
"I was fine. I wasn't nervous. I was probably shadowboxing a little bit and dodging punches," Tom Fitzgerald said. "But Mom? She was literally on the tip of her seat standing up going, 'Oh my God', grabbing the guy in the seat next to her. When it was over, I just started applauding, like, that was great.
"Don't forget about Tage Thompson doing the same thing in that game, too. That's admirable what those two kids did. You admire that, highly encourage it to build a culture."
Casey Fitzgerald's journey has been a tough one. He wasn't drafted in his first eligible year before the Sabres took him in the third round in 2016 after his freshman year at Boston College. He stayed in school for four years, kept attending Buffalo development camps and Prospect Challenges but spent plenty of time as a healthy scratch in Rochester. He didn't really break through there until last season and became a top-pair player this season.
"Last year I felt was perfect for a lot of kids because teams weren't spending money and young kids were going to get a chance," Tom Fitzgerald said. "I know in my organization that was the case that I wasn't bringing in any high-priced guys to a short season. And that's what happened in Rochester. Casey found his game, started to improve and get better and have confidence. And then this year he made a real statement at camp being the last 'D' cut and going to Roch and playing a prominent role."
The view from Rochester
The Amerks' coaching staff was so thrilled with Fitzgerald's call-up that they skipped going out to dinner on a road trip to Lehigh Valley, ordered pizza and streamed the Sabres game on a big screen in their hotel.
Coach Seth Appert said high picks with big pedigree such as Jack Quinn, Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson need coaching in the minors to become elite NHLers. But it's players such as Fitzgerald and Brett Murray who work their way into NHL roles that make development staffs pump their chests even more and make players feel they're being properly prepared.
"Those guys weren’t thought of as guys who were likely headed to the National Hockey League," Appert said. "The work they put in to earn that, you’re just a little more excited and a little more proud because it wasn’t maybe a given.
"He looked the same in the NHL as he did in the American league. He was physical; he closed time and space; he made offensive transition plays; he blocked shots; he had hits; and he got into a fight because he sticks up for his teammates like he does down here. I think that gives our guys confidence that the games they’re playing, the way we’re trying to play as a team can translate to individual success at that level as well."
When the game ended, Tom Fitzgerald was able to use his NHL credentials – and innate knowledge of his former home rink – to get downstairs for a quick chat with his son.
"There was a big hug and an 'I'm proud of you,' " Tom Fitzgerald said. "I told him, 'You absolutely should be proud of this performance. Because you took full advantage of an opportunity.'"
"It was great having having them both out here," Casey Fitzgerald told reporters after the Sabres' 3-2 overtime defeat. "My dad, obviously, is pretty busy but he wouldn't have missed this for the world and they got on a quick flight. Just awesome, so grateful for them for just everything they've done for me my whole life leading me up to this part of my career. It's very special."
Vinnie Hinostroza went on the Covid protocol list Monday and practice was canceled Tuesday about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start in LECOM Harborcenter after positive tests landed Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner on the list as well.
Future family meetings?
Fitzgerald was loaned to Rochester for the Amerks' game Wednesday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but it was postponed. He'll likely get the call back to the Sabres when they restart their schedule. If it's played, the Dec. 29 home game would be against New Jersey, as in Fitzgerald vs. Fitzgerald.
"It would be bizarre. My wife and I have talked about it," Tom Fitzgerald said. "My advice to him is always take it one day at a time, enjoy it. But tomorrow's a new day. Take the challenges head on, whatever comes of it, just you work hard, don't waver, the game doesn't change."
The Devils are in a similar spot as the Sabres, trying to rebuild with top young talent under former Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff.
"We feel really good like Buffalo does with their future players and their young core guys that will be coming through that organization," Tom Fitzgerald said. "There's going to be great times in Buffalo, I can tell you. It may not be next year or the year after, but it's coming and then they'll consistently be there because of the players.
"I look at Casey's situation as a hockey person and I don't think he could be in a better situation with a team that's going to give young kids the opportunity to become NHL players."
That was the GM talking. Tom Fitzgerald laughed when asked about all the crossed emotions he felt during his son's debut.
"We were playing Pittsburgh Sunday and Tuesday so I was watching them and how they play. Mike Sullivan has done a great job with them. ... I'm looking at it as a scout. And then all of a sudden Casey comes out and I just kept saying, '(Number) 45 is on the ice.' "
