John E. Sokolowski-Imagn ImagesThe Maven thought he knew a lot about Nick Fotiu – and then Matthew Blittner came along and embarrassed me.
And if you're wondering who Blitz (his new nickname) is, lemme explain first of all that this native of Marine Park in Brooklyn is one heckuva writer. One of his hockey books happens to be one of my favorites: "Unforgettable Rangers Games and Moments From The Press Box."
This indefatigable guy also is columnist and feature writer at Sportology.com and, at age 33, the Brooklyn College grad is as savvy as any hockey guy I know.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that Blitz did a superior interview with Fotiu, who will be inducted in the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame, and is allowing Mave to deliver a few fascinating excerpts. so here goes:
HIS RANGERS HERITAGE: "I used to sleep outside and inside the Garden when I was 16 years old, waiting for playoff tickets. Considering that I went from that point in my life to eventually playing for the Rangers is a bit un-real. The Garden became my cathedral. God told me that I was gonna play for the Blueshirts. You don't start playing hockey at age 16 and make it unless you have somebody upstairs helping you."
HIS SCARY ADVENTURES: Travelling from Staten Island to Long Island as often as I did required me riding the subways and LIRR at scary times. To protect myself, I used to carry a hatchet on top of my hockey bag. When you consider that I was travelling at three in the morning or one in the morning – all hours of the night – I had to protect myself because I was all alone."
HIS HOCKEY ROLES; PROTECTOR AND FIGHTER: "I always grew up protecting people whether it was friends, teammates, people I didn't even know because that's what I was and what I am. I did that on the ice and fought the toughest opponents such as Dave Schultz of the Flyers. In the last year that Gordie Howe played for Hartford, I was protecting Gordie and even his sons, Mark and Marty. That was my role although I really didn't like to fight. And I chose that role because nobody else could do it. Plus, I didn't like players like Schultz who bullied people."
HIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN HOCKEY FIGHTS AND BOXING FIGHTS: "I was a Golden Gloves boxer because boxing is an art and I always respected it for that. When you box, the guy opposite you is boxing too. In hockey, you have players hitting with sticks or some other kinds of cheap shots and that's why I figured it was my job to protect them. I never had a guy give me a cheap shot in boxing. When you play hockey; you never know. But in boxing, it's right there – in the ring."