Pittis has found a hockey home
Domenic Pittis believes he has the ability to play full-time in the NHL, but he is OK with the fact that it never happened.
Sure, Pittis cherishes his cups of coffee with several NHL teams, but the Calgary native tired of the up-and-down, vagabond life associated with being a fringe NHL player as the lockout approached. All told, he made brief appearances with Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Edmonton, Nashville and Buffalo again, never playing more than the 47 games he saw with Edmonton in 2000-01. He left the NHL in 2004 with 16 points in 86 games.
With the Buffalo organization at the time of the lockout, Pittis was not guaranteed a minor-league job as the 2004-05 work stoppage approached. Buffalo was intent on sending its young NHL players to the American Hockey League to get them playing time and Pittis was warned that he could fall victim to a numbers' crunch. That's when he cast his eye to Europe.
"I was at the point in my career where I believed I had played as well as I could in the minors to prove I belonged (in the NHL," Pittis told NHL.com. "I didn't want to be on a two-way (contract) and be a depth guy. I just didn't want to do that."
So, Pittis talked to some of his hockey-playing friends from Calgary that had played abroad and decided that Europe might just be for him. Pittis has familial roots in Italy and had traveled their to visit relatives, so neighboring Switzerland seemed as good a place as any to begin the adventure.
It proved to be a perfect fit. Pittis played three years with the Kloten Flyers and then moved on to Zurich, where he has played for the last three seasons as one of the Lions' top offensive stars.
"It's worked out really well," Pittis said. "We consider this home now."
Pittis still returns to Calgary in the summer and he still talks to his hockey-playing buddies, many of whom have made it to the NHL. In fact, Pittis played with Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell in Rochester, going to a Calder Cup Final together.
He has come to grips with his decision to cast his lot in Switzerland, virtually putting an end to his pursuit of becoming a regular in the NHL, a dream he had harbored since childhood.
"You always wonder after the lockout what would have happened with the rules changes (to open up the game) and how that would have affected everything," Pittis admitted. "But I think I gave it my best shot and, for whatever reason, be it injuries or whatever, I wasn't able to establish myself."
Pittis certainly has established himself in Switzerland, averaging 41 points a season during his first five years playing a schedule that has less than 50 games. This season, he leads Zurich in scoring after the team's first six games with 3 goals and 6 assists. He is a fan favorite with the Lions' passionate fan base.
So, it is of little surprise that Pittis is happy with his current lot in life.
"For me, it is about still being able to play hockey at a very high level," Pittis said. "And, Zurich is a great place to live. It has such a high quality of life. My family loves it here."
-- Shawn P. Roarke
Zurich, the winner of the Champions Hockey League Cup last spring, earned the right to play the Blackhawks in the Victoria Cup Tuesday at Zurich's Hallenstadion. The New York Rangers defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 4-3, in last year's inaugural event.
Pittis, a former NHLer from Calgary, has played for Zurich for the past three years and believes his team is ready for whatever the Blackhawks can muster in their final game before kicking off the NHL regular season three nights later against Florida in the first game of the two-game NHL Compuware Premiere Finland series being played in Helsinki.
"Chicago has always been in the back of our mind this season," Pittis told NHL.com. "The guys want to put on a good show. A lot of guys haven't been to North America to play hockey or play at that level, so they want to see how they stack up."
Pittis, who spent years with in the Buffalo Sabres organization, has had NHL cups of coffee with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Sabres and Nashville Predators before leaving full-time for Switzerland six seasons ago.
Zurich's leading scorer so far this season, Pittis is one of two Canadians on the roster, joined by Jean-Guy Trudel. Zurich's other imports are also recognizable to NHL fans.
Slovakian forward Peter Cejna played 49 games with the St. Louis Blues after a stellar career at Colorado College. He has been with the Lions the past three seasons. Slovakian defenseman Radoslav Suchy, meanwhile, has six years of NHL experience with Phoenix and Columbus. He has also been with Zurich for three years. Backup goalie Ari Sulander never played in the NHL, but the staple of the Finnish national team for more than a decade is one of the most recognizable goalies in Europe. He has been with Zurich for a dozen years.
So what can the Blackhawks expect from a team of mainly Swiss players, bolstered by a few key imports?
"It's a skating game over here," Pittis said. "It's more on the technical side than the physical side here. It's fast-paced and it's a lot of offense. Guys aren't as big or as strong, but everyone here can skate."
Shawn Simpson, the Zurich coach, has been around pro hockey for almost three decades and he has coached throughout Europe. He says that the Swiss are among the best skaters in all of Europe.
"It's an up-tempo league here," Simpson told NHL.com. "Really, everyone in this league can skate well and the Swiss are known for that ability."
But, he doesn't think that his team's ability to skate will pay many dividends against the Blackhawks. Maybe against another NHL team, but not against the young and talented Hawks, who made it to the Western Conference Finals last season.
"I think Chicago has one of the best skating teams in the NHL," Simpson said. "I have to say, we are really looking forward to the experience."
So, too, are the Blackhawks.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville suggested this is just not another exhibition for his team. The Victoria Cup is an opportunity for the NHL to represent its level of skill in Europe and Quenneville says his team will take that responsibility seriously.
"I think no matter what type of a lineup you have out there, there's a lot of incentive across the board for players looking to make your lineup," Quenneville said. "Everybody wants to do well. Everybody wants to have success. As a coach, you're playing to win every hockey game.
"But, I think that we're getting down to the short strokes here. I think getting your team on top of its game, prepared to play the first game of the season, I think most NHL teams have a real good dress rehearsal their last exhibition game and usually go with their lineup they anticipate starting with. And they give it that type of attention, which we're going to do."
And, the Zurich Lions want to see nothing less than Chicago's best.
"What a great experience for us this is going to be," Simpson said. "For a Swiss team to win the Champions League, against all those teams we were not supposed to beat, to get the opportunity to play the Chicago Blackhawks, an up-and-coming team with a chance to win the Stanley Cup, is all we can ask for."
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