The ERSTE Liga is in full swing as another match week has come to an end. Currently Csíkszereda and FTC-Telekom are tied on points at the top of the standing as Ferencváros picked up wins against UTE, HK Budapest and Dunaújváros. Leo Fitzgerald helped FTC-Telekom to the three wins with a total of seven points and is this week’s Player of the Week.
Leo Fitzgerald one the three hockey playing Fitzgerald triplets from Port Alberni, British Columbia. Leo and his brother Myles signed with Ferencváros in the offseason, with their brother playing in the Minnesota Wild organization. The three brothers played junior hockey in the BCHL where they played for the Nanaimo Clippers, Prince George Spruce Kings and the Victoria Grizzlies. In Prince George they were teammates of current Edmonton Oilers forward Jujhar Khaira. After completing his junior career Leo and his brothers played college hockey at Bemidji State University. After graduation Leo finished out the season in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingray, this was also the first time where he was not teammates with his brothers. This however did not last long as Leo and Myles signed with FTC-Telekom.
FTC-Telekom closed out the week with three wins and you yourself had a productive three games as well. What was the biggest reason for the scoring outburst this week?
It pretty much has been me adjusting to the league the larger ice surface. It has helped a lot that I have started to become familiar with my linemates as well. You have to know where they are where they will be, which also means that you need to be more proactive out there as well.
Aside have an opportunity to play with your brother what was the biggest reason that you decided to sign with FTC-Telekom?
My agent was looking for good place for me, this opportunity popped up. I have heard about the hockey culture in the country and it has always been a place where wanted to come. I had heard in the past that the ERSTE Liga was a great league to play in.
What are your first impressions of the league?
It's really fast hockey that is being played on a larger ice surface. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, its good hockey and some teams in the league are stronger than others. We have to adjust to the different styles of hockey that are being played in the league.
What are your personal goals for the season?
I actually don’t really have any set goals, I just want to produce and try to help the team as much as I can.
What was it like to be always having your two brothers on your team with you?
It was really cool because I always had my two brothers with me, which also meant that any time we joined a new team we already had some teammates that I already knew. It also made things a lot more comfortable wherever we went. The three of use have always been on teh same team and the only times we didn’t play together was when one of us was injured. It was like this up until the end of last season when I played in the ECHL. We had together all through college, sometimes the coaches had us on one line, other times we were spread out through the lines. This is the first full season where we are not all playing together.
Before you got into hockey, you and your brothers were movie actors as well, what made you choose the path of hockey?
We were in two movies as kids when we were growing up. Our aunt signed us up for the audition as a joke and we ended up getting the part in the movie, a few years later we were in the sequel as well. We decided that we wanted to play sports as well not just act and we picked hockey. Later on we just decided to stick with hockey.