Zack Fitzgerald

Zackary John Fitzgerald (born June 16, 1985) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He was most recently the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Glasgow Clan of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

He played major junior hockey for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League WHL, where he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the third round, 88th overall, in the 2003 NHL entry draft. Fitzgerald began his professional career in the Blues organization before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, ultimately playing his lone NHL game for the Canucks in 2007–08. He is mostly known as an enforcer. Fitzgerald was born in Two Harbors, Minnesota, but grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. He is the brother of Rusty Fitzgerald.

Playing career Juniors Fitzgerald played for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League (WHL) where he became a physical presence and learned the art of fighting. He stated "When I got into junior I didn't know anything about fighting and the doors just kind of opened to it. We had a pretty tough team and I always played physical when I was young so fighting just became a part of my game." Thanks to his willingness to drop the gloves, Fitzgerald led the Thunderbirds in penalty minutes twice during his four-year stay (he was second on the team in his other two years) and led the league with 244 penalty minutes for the 2004–05 season. before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Francois-Pierre Guenette in August 2007.

Thanks to a blue-line opening created by injuries and call-ups, Fitzgerald received more playing time with Vancouver's AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose. The additional ice time allowed Fitzgerald to refine his game causing his then coach Scott Arniel to say "He's had an opportunity to play and play regularly and his game has been very good. He's been very responsible in our end of the rink, he's done a great job of making that first pass and you can see he has confidence because he's playing a lot. I think what he's trying to do is show people that he's more than just a fighter." For the 2010–11 season Carolina changed AHL affiliates. As a member of the Charlotte Checkers Fitzgerald recorded 8 assists and led the team with 229 PIMs, which also ranked him ninth in the league. After two seasons in the Hurricanes system Fitzgerald left via free agency and signed a one-year deal with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs.

Fitzgerald signed with the Adirondack Phantoms on July 3, 2012.

On July 14, 2014, Fitzergald signed abroad on a one-year deal for a player/coach role with the Braehead Clan of the EIHL in Scotland.

After one season he moved to the Sheffield Steelers, where he was named an assistant captain. He remained with the Steelers for three seasons before returning to the Clan (now known as the Glasgow Clan) for the 2018–19 season, where he captained the team.

On May 30, 2019, Fitzgerald was named head coach and director of hockey operations for the Glasgow Clan, retiring him as a player in the process – although he did appear sporadically as injury cover throughout the season. He left his position at the end of the 2019-20 EIHL season.

Career statistics Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2000–01 East High School HSMN 26 1 5 6 44 — — — — — 2001–02 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 61 3 7 10 214 10 0 2 2 19 2002–03 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 64 8 14 22 232 15 0 4 4 33 2003–04 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 58 4 15 19 163 — — — — — 2004–05 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 65 7 18 25 244 9 0 3 3 24 2005–06 Alaska Aces ECHL 12 1 1 2 108 — — — — — 2005–06 Peoria Rivermen AHL 13 1 1 2 47 — — — — — 2006–07 Peoria Rivermen AHL 29 0 2 2 86 — — — — — 2006–07 Alaska Aces ECHL 10 0 1 1 48 14 2 3 5 82 2007–08 Manitoba Moose AHL 48 5 3 8 158 3 0 0 0 14 2007–08 Vancouver Canucks NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Manitoba Moose AHL 56 0 8 8 209 16 0 1 1 14 2009–10 Albany River Rats AHL 77 2 12 14 311 2 0 0 0 0 2010–11 Charlotte Checkers AHL 76 0 8 8 229 10 0 1 1 32 2011–12 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 74 2 3 5 268 — — — — — 2012–13 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 36 1 0 1 202 — — — — — 2013–14 Adirondack Phantoms AHL 38 0 1 1 231 — — — — — 2014–15 Braehead Clan EIHL 44 2 12 14 304 2 0 0 0 8 2015–16 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 48 3 8 11 197 — — — — — 2016–17 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 47 2 12 14 197 4 0 0 0 2 2017–18 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 37 0 8 8 181 4 0 1 1 10 2018–19 Glasgow Clan EIHL 56 4 13 17 178 2 0 0 0 4 2019–20 Glasgow Clan EIHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — AHL totals 447 11 38 49 1741 31 0 2 2 60 NHL totals 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — EIHL totals 236 11 53 64 1057 12 0 1 1 24