...von meinem 2. Lieblingsfighter ein kleines Portrait:

Step By Step

If it looks like Todd Fedoruk is flashing that boyish, gap-toothed grin a little more often this year, there's a good reason.

Branded as just a fighter for his first three professional seasons, Fedoruk finally has had the opportunity to expand his hockey skills.

Why, it's enough to make a 236-pound man do a back flip.

Did you know that Fedoruk actually can do a back flip, and, unlike Ozzie Smith, doesn't even need a running start?

That shows you the extent of the athleticism of this young man from Redwater, Alberta.

Most didn't know about that prowess, including coaches, because Fedoruk's bad-boy reputation preceded him. From junior to the minors to the NHL, he was almost programmed to be one of those typical rock-'em-sock-'em robots, a fighter without much of a conscience.

When Ken Hitchcock arrived as the new Head Coach of the Flyers, he quickly picked up on Fedoruk's above-average skating ability, his effective checking style and his passion for learning to become a better player.

Hitchcock saw potential and has been working with Fedoruk since Day One of training camp to make him a much more complete player.

The coach enjoys these sorts of projects. He really made his mark as a junior coach in the '80s, turning out fine players in bunches from rinks in western Canada.

In the pro ranks, the philosophy remains the same. A more well-rounded player is better equipped to play Hitchcock's sophisticated systems. Much of the Hitchcock success formula comes from teams that have an instinctive grasp of the game, rather than always having to think about it.

While Fedoruk will never get his chops as a finesse player, he's working hard to pick up on the nuances of the game so that they become more natural.

"He (Hitchcock) has encouraged me to skate with the puck and help me with my confidence level,'' Fedoruk says. "He told me I had tools and he gave me the confidence to try things like that. He's willing to work with me and I really haven't had that yet at a professional level."

" 'Hitch' is all about progressing players. He sees things in players and what kind of players they should be.''

On the job training is nothing new to Hitchcock. He didn't convert the Dallas Stars of the late '90s overnight. It took a few years to get his offensive players to play more defensive and his tough guys to be more discreet in picking their spots.

In Fedoruk, he sees one of those western Canadian kids with unbridled zeal for the game.

"The biggest contribution he can make is on energy, physical play,'' Hitchcock says. "For a big man, he can really move. Those are things he has to bring on a nightly basis; those are his calling cards."

"The other stuff is how quick can you learn. It's being able to keep up to the tempo of the game, meaning the transition from offense to defense, defense to offense. Those are things that he has to really work at.''

It hasn't all been smooth sailing. Early on, Fedoruk sprained some ligaments in his right thumb, just about the worst injury an enforcer can sustain. Without full strength in his hand, Fedoruk really can't go out and initiate the timely skirmish.

Such a problem can be frustrating because it can become nagging in nature. One twist the wrong way and a week of recovery progress is lost.

Hitchcock understands the situation and has shown extra patience with his protégé. While "The Fridge'' can't be an effective fighter at the moment, he can work on other parts of his game.

"I think he's been limited by the thumb injury,'' Hitchcock says. "That's hurt him a little bit. In order to have an impact on the game, he has to continue to work to keep up to the pace. You don't want to be five steps behind, like the reaction to the game is not automatic to Todd.

"He's thinking as other things are going quickly around him. So we want to get him into a position where he's reacting and everything is automatic. It's not automatic yet. It will be but it's not there yet.

"He has all the skills. The mental part of the game is the biggest challenge facing him. It's a thing you can't speed up.''

Fedoruk admits there are nights when the game looks easy and all the moves seem to come natural. On others, the things Hitchcock talks about don't always click.

"I see them some games, I know they're there,'' Fedoruk says. "Some games the calmness is there and I'm able to make those plays. Other games, if I make a mistake early, everything speeds up and I want to do so much. I think that will come with maturity as a player. Calming down and bringing it to a level where I can do it consistently.''

Perhaps the biggest challenge is remaining patient. Hitchcock keeps playing Fedoruk and showing faith in his ability. That's about all a player can ask.

There are nights when Fedoruk would like to jump in with a Donald Brashear or a Chris McAllister and help with his fists, but that wouldn't be productive.

"In fighting, the clutching and the grabbing, there's a lot of thumb strength for stuff like that,'' Fedoruk says. "That really hinders the games where I don't feel up to what he (Hitchcock) is asking, some games are just there. When you can fight, that's how you contribute. I don't have the offensive ability, like 'JR' (Jeremy Roenick), Johnny (LeClair), all those guys. Sometimes a fight can put me on the map.

"He's got to put the goal scorers out there, I understand that. Fighting is my way of contributing. To not be able to do that is very frustrating. All you can do is hit and hit. When you're not getting out there that much, hits aren't always there.

"I know he understands. He's a very understanding coach. I think he knows that I like to fight. I think he understands a fighter's role. He understands that I can't do it, it's been frustrating for me and he's been patient with that. I have to try and contribute other ways that really I'm not as good at contributing in those ways.''

The rest of the Flyers understand the situation and pull for him to succeed.

Roenick is one of his biggest supporters.

"I think when people outside look at Fridge, they see him as a tough guy. On the team, we know he's a tough guy, but he's a tough guy who can play the game at a high level.

"There aren't many guys who can skate as well as he can and have the energy that he has. He supplies a lot of excitement for our club and one of the great things about Fridge is you can put him in a lot of situations and he's not a one-dimensional guy. He's not just a fighter. You can't say that about many tough guys in the league.

"That's a tribute to his talent, that he can do an array of things. He's relied on in every situation.''

Roenick, a multi-sport athlete himself going back to his high school days, marvels at Fedoruk's athleticism.

"He's the biggest guy I've ever seen do a back flip,'' says Roenick, his eyes growing wide. "He can do a back flip standing still. When he does that, it's hilarious. It's pretty amazing.''

The other area where Fedoruk is working to become a more "complete player'' is in his life off the ice.

A little over two years ago, at the urging of teammates and organization officials, Fedoruk made the decision to stop using alcohol.

It was a landmark moment in the 23-year-old's life. He had started drinking at 13 and when he moved hundreds of miles from home to play junior hockey at 15, the situation started to get out of control.

Looking back, Fedoruk realizes how much the problem hurt his hockey career and his decision-making.

"It progressed and I was always a wild partier,'' he says of his youth. "What it basically came down to at the end was it took control of my life. Things started to slip and my life became unmanageable. My hockey was going completely out the door. Things were happening to my hockey career because of my partying and drinking.

Fedoruk had so much promise as a player and a person, the Flyers and Phantoms didn't want to see him waste it all at such a young age. It's a road too many raw hockey players have gone down.

"When I got here, they saw me and I had so much more freedom here that they really didn't know at the start of it --- I wasn't playing well, my head wasn't in the game. I got sent down to the minors. All I had to do was stop drinking.''

With a little help from his friends…

"It was just a bunch of people, I don't know if you want to call it an intervention or what. I didn't think I had a problem when it happened. Andy Delmore, Jesse Boulerice, Paul Holmgren, those guys were constantly saying, maybe you have a problem. It got bad enough where I was saying I have to quit. And I couldn't quit. Couldn't quit, wouldn't quit, so I just kept going. They said either go to rehab or you're not with us anymore.''

Fedoruk says he had a good family upbringing. He just abused whatever freedom was offered.

"I was just a bad apple. Moved way out from home when I was 15, I was all by myself. All that freedom. I was the type of person, even when I was a child, just do what I want when I want. In junior, I was 10 hours from home. I wasn't going home for weekends.''

Having straightened himself out, Fedoruk can focus better on maintaining his position with the Flyers.

"It's just made me grow up, made me mature. I'm not a dope that makes stupid decisions. I think about things more. As a player, it's helped me realize what an opportunity I have at the time I was getting sober.

"It's done everything for me. Everything I have today is because I quit.''

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Fedoruk got called up from the Phantoms shortly after the monumental decision and has been here ever since.

"I don't think it's only luck, I think it's because I got sober,'' he admits. “Because I was able to become a player, I didn't have the booze fogging my mind or screwing up my decisions. I just did enough to get by. When I got sober, I was doing enough to get better. That's what I try to do, get a little better every day.''

From his vantage point on the ice, Hitchcock agrees.

"Todd is on the learning curve. Some days he plays a lot, some he doesn't. But he's getting better every day.''

Fedoruk can now look forward to the future with optimism. He's showing sides of himself not seen before.

"I think there's sides to everybody that people don't know about. For me, I think I've got a lot that's locked in me that's raw and it's going to come out with maturity. I really believe that.

"I believe that down the road I will bloom into a different player. Not getting away from what got me here, I'll remember my roots, my foundation. I'll always be a checker. I just want to keep progressing, keep getting better.''

Méschda Hoschbess holy ...und nichts ist wie es scheint!!

If you dropped the gloves in the office over an injustice and bloodied your boss, you'd get slapped with a lawsuit and five years in the tank. Drop the gloves in hockey and you get five minutes.

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