There have been 120 players that have come through Charlotte and donned a Checkers sweater. For the next few weeks, we’re going to take a look at former Checkers players and see where their careers have taken them since their stint in Charlotte.
The 2010-11 Checkers had a lot of firepower, with the inaugural AHL squad boasting five 60+ point scorers, a mark that has yet to be surpassed in the four seasons since. But as those snipers racked up the points, other players filled the score sheet in a different way. Perhaps most notably was Zack Fitzgerald, who amassed a staggering 229 penalty minutes during the season and established his spot in Checkers’ history.
Fitzgerald had been filling the enforcer role for quite a while before joining the Checkers. The defenseman recorded 853 penalty minutes through four WHL seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds before being selected in the third round of the 2003 draft by the St. Louis Blues. He spent the first two years of his pro career bouncing between the ECHL and AHL levels of the St. Louis system, then played the following two seasons with the Manitoba Moose (included in that stint was one game with the Vancouver Canucks, which would hold up as his lone NHL appearance). The Hurricanes organization was the next stop for Fitzgerald, where he led the AHL with a then career-high 311 penalty minutes during the River Rats’ final season in Albany.
With a growing reputation as an enforcer around the league, Fitzgerald brought his style to Charlotte when the team moved in 2010-11, accumulating 229 penalty minutes in 76 games as a part what currently holds up as the most successful Checkers team in franchise history. That stands as the most single-season penalty minutes in team history, 65 more than the second-highest total. In addition to that, Fitzgerald ranks fourth all-time in penalty minutes in a Checkers sweater, which doesn’t seem particularly impressive until you see that the three players ahead of him all have at least 240 games played, compared to Fitzgerald’s 76.
The next season brought Fitzgerald to yet another team, this time Hamilton Bulldogs, and he fit right back into his role, again leading the league with 268 penalty minutes. That would end up as Fitzgerald’s last full AHL season, as he spent the next two seasons appearing in 36 and 38 games for the Adirondack Phantoms (though he still managed to rack up over 200 penalty minutes in each campaign).
The 2014-15 season saw the Minnesota native make the jump overseas, joining the Braehead Clan of the UK’s EIHL. The Scotland-based squad featured two other players who have donned a Checkers jersey (Scott Pitt and Leigh Salters) and rolled its way to the league final. Fitzgerald enjoyed an uptick of performance in the new league, matching his career highs in goals (2), assists (12) and points (14) and establishing a new career-high with 344 penalty minutes in 52 games. On top of having one of his best seasons on the ice, Fitzgerald also served as a player-assistant coach for the Clan.
Fitzgerald, now 30, will make another move next season, as he signed a deal with Braehead’s EIHL rival, the Sheffield Steelers, during this offseason. Steelers head coach Paul Thompson had glowing things to say about his team’s newest acquisition, and Fitzgerald will look to further his role and continue his progression with his new team.
“I went hard after Zack and I can't tell you how pleased I am that we managed to sign him,” said Thompson on the team’s official website. “He is a perfect fit for us. He has great experience, character and leadership skills.
"Of course he knows his role on this team and that is to keep other players honest. More importantly it is to allow our skilled players to play with freedom and I am sure they will be happy when they look around the locker room and see that he is one of them.
"Zack will log a lot of minutes for us this coming season, it wasn't just his toughness that ticked the box's for me. It is his all round game and presence that I like"
