Fitzgerald happy in Nashville

By TIM WHARNSBY -- Toronto Sun Tom Fitzgerald felt like a cartoon character, like he had a bull's-eye painted on his face.
There he was, a week ago, in just his second game as the first captain in Nashville Predators history, sliding on the top of the boards at his team's bench, heading straight for the turnbuckle. At the last moment, he shifted his weight forward and fell onto the ice to avoid smacking into the hard padding where the glass begins.
"He looked like Wile E. Coyote in one of those old Roadrunner cartoons," Predators general manager David Poile said.
Added Nashville winger Scott Walker: "I've never seen him move so fast."
The play became an instant favourite for TV highlight packages.
"I'm not a one-on-one player," Fitzgerald said. "I had some speed going and I had just chipped the puck past (Carolina's Glen Wesley). I turned to get around him, jumped a bit and he just caught me. I saw what was coming and somehow was able to avoid the problem."
Fitzgerald solved another problem during the summer. An unrestricted free agent, he had similar contract offers from Nashville and Toronto, before choosing to go the expansion route.
"I came this close to coming to Toronto," Fitzgerald said, holding his thumb and index finger a millimetre apart. "I know I turned down playing for an Original Six team. But I've been through the expansion experience with Florida and I loved it.
"I was born in the Boston area. If the Bruins made me an offer, I would have jumped at it. But the Leafs don't mean as much to me as, say, if I grew up in Toronto, or Canada."
Credit Poile for his sales pitch. He had more to offer than a three-year deal that will pay Fitzgerald $1.6 million US this season. Poile offered an expanded role for Fitzgerald, which included the captaincy.
"It hit me that I was going to be one of 27 captains in the NHL," the veteran centre said. "That's special to me. I want it to be something people in Nashville remember as a good thing -- that his team worked hard and tried to give itself a chance to win every night."
Nashville coach Barry Trotz has set the lofty goal of making the playoffs.
"I think overall this will be a faster team, younger and potentially more talented in some ways than the first year in Florida," Fitzgerald said of the Panthers' 1993-94 season. "But that said, we had tremendous chemistry, guys who wanted to succeed for each other and great goaltending. Whether we can duplicate that here remains to be seen."

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