But that all changed as Fritsche was blossoming as a player, moving from the Cleveland Barons youth team to the Ontario Hockey League. Soon enough, Columbus had the Blue Jackets and the talented Fritsche was thought of as a high-level NHL draft pick going into the 2003 selection process.
It wasn't the most fun for Fritsche -- projected by many as a first-round pick -- but all was well when the Blue Jackets took him with the 46th overall pick in the second round of the draft, making him the first player from Ohio selected by the CBJ.
"It was basically being drafted at home, right?" Fritsche said on the most recent edition of Where Are They Now?, an interview series presented by Huntington Bank. "When I grew up, there was no Blue Jackets. I always was a fan of Detroit, Pittsburgh, but when the Blue Jackets came, they created a spark all through the state of Ohio.
"I always dreamed of playing (there) once they came, playing in my home state, playing in Ohio but I never thought I was going to be able to. When they called my name, it was almost like a dream come true to get to play for basically my home team."
Even more surprising, Fritsche made the Blue Jackets out of his first training camp at 18 years old. He'd play 19 games that year and net his first NHL goal, then become a regular with Columbus from 2005-06 to 2007-08.
With his brother, Tom, playing hockey at OSU from 2004-05 to 2007-08, and his uncle John also eventually coaching the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets of the USHL, Dan has plenty of good memories from his time in Columbus.
"From the very beginning, it was like playing at home," Fritsche said. "I had family members down every single night. Guys on my team hated me because I was always the one begging them for tickets, going around the locker room, 'You using your tickets tonight? You using your tickets tonight?' Just annoying the crap out of all of them.
"But that's what you get when you basically play at home. I always tell people the time of my life was my second, third, fourth seasons when my brother was down here playing at Ohio State. I bought a condo a couple of miles down the road from the Ohio State campus and I got the chance to live with my brother and my best friend who went to Ohio State."
In all, he'd play 206 games in four seasons with the Blue Jackets and was the first Ohio native to become a regular with the squad, though Brett Harkins was the first to actually suit up for the CBJ. Fritsche finished his CBJ career with a 29-34-63 line in 206 games before finishing his NHL career with Minnesota and the New York Rangers.
After a year in the AHL, Fritsche spent his last six seasons overseas, then the Parma, Ohio, native moved back to the Cleveland area where he's stayed involved in hockey via the coaching route. Hear his memories of his time in Columbus, his thoughts on the growth of hockey in the state and much more by watching the video above.
