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Fire and ice
Brotherhood draws ex-Everblades players to fire service
By Jamie HenlineNaples Daily News
Matt Pagnutti grew up on the ice.
"Pretty much the first thing I ever did was put on a pair of skates," he said Tuesday morning as he perched on the back of a fire truck in Estero Fire Rescue's Station No. 2, his back resting against the white panels.
A resident of Canada for most of his 30 years, he looks cool in the muggy air.
His spotless, gray polo shirt is tucked neatly into crisp navy cargo pants. They are a far cry from his old work clothes with the Florida Everblades hockey team. There is no jersey or helmet.
His hands are clasped loosely between his thighs. He has no use for a stick or gloves.
His booted feet are planted firmly on the concrete floor. His ice skates are at home.
"It's a little different. With hockey, you try to beat the opponent," he said, smiling. "With firefighting, you try to help people."
There are other differences. Freezing rinks versus blazing fires. Sixty-minute games versus 24-hour shifts.
But there is one overwhelming similarity that binds the worlds of ice and fire. Call it brotherhood, call it solidarity. Never underestimate it. It is the most important thing, Pagnutti said.
Teamwork is the most difficult skill to teach, and that's why athletes tend to have an aptitude for firefighting, said Estero Fire Battalion Chief Larry Nisbet. He was one of Pagnutti's instructors at the Fort Myers Fire Academy.
"When (hockey players) come in to us, we don't have to teach them how to be a team. One of the most difficult things to deal with in the fire academy is to break down the individuality and deal with people as a team," he said.
Pagnutti and Terry Lindgren, another ex-Everblades player who works for Estero Fire, already know how to work as a unit, he said.
"They already know how to follow orders without question and get things done. That part of the job is already done," he said. "We just teach them how to squirt a hose and start an IV."
Whether it's a game-winning shot or a raging inferno, hockey players and firefighters count on their teammates to watch their backs. That's what drew Pagnutti and other former Everblades players to the fire service.
It seemed natural for Matt to become a hockey player. The sport is a way of life in Canada, where kids battle for the puck on ponds and in skating rinks.
"Growing up, everybody wants to make it to the NHL (National Hockey League)," he said, laughing.
His father, Rick Pagnutti, did.
Rick was the first overall pick in the 1967 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He spent his career with the American Hockey League. He played for 10 years for teams in Rochester, N.Y., and Springfield, Mass.
Matt followed in his father's blade marks.
He won a four-year scholarship to Clarkson University in New York. Then, it was on to an eight-year career in the East Coast Hockey League. He played for teams in Little Rock, Ark., and Lafayette, La., before he got a phone call from the Florida Everblades. It was on his list of dream teams.
He was a defenseman and an All-Star, just like his dad.
"We followed him all the way through until he retired," Rick said. He and his wife, Mary Ann, made it a point to see at least one of Matt's games every year.
"I think my proudest moment of him was when he became All-American," Rick said.
After three years with the Everblades, it was time for a change.
"It's one of those things you can only do for so long. You start waking up in the mornings, and your bones are a little sore," Matt said with a chuckle.
Rick asked his son what he planned to do after hockey.
"He kind of shrugged his shoulders and didn't say too much," Rick said.
Then, Matt started asking questions about the fire service. Rick retired after 30 years with the Sudbury Fire Department in Ontario, where he served as a captain.
"I told him that before he went in, the thing about firefighting is you've got to back each other up when you get a call. Like a partner in defense, if you get in trouble in front of the net or get in a fight, you help him out," Rick said.
Matt has been a firefighter/emergency medical technician with Estero Fire for four months.
Lindgren made the leap before he did, after three seasons as a defenseman and two seasons as a coach with the Everblades. Lindgren, 30, has been with Estero Fire for 17 months. He also went to the Fort Myers Fire Academy.
A native of Edmonton in the province of Alberta, where there are skating rinks on every corner, he started skating at 3 years old. Seventeen years later, he signed with the NHL's San Jose Sharks when he was 20. He played in the minor leagues in Miami for one year before heading to the Everblades.
After a 10-year hockey career, Lindgren went to Estero Fire. He will be a licensed paramedic in one month.
"It's just something I've always wanted to do," he said. "Even living in Canada as a kid, I wanted to be a firefighter."
Lindgren was already coaching by the time Pagnutti came to the Everblades, so they never played together. However, Lindgren was more than happy to work together.
"I was pushing for it, but he didn't need pushing," Lindgren said, laughing.
Two other former Everblades players also have their eyes on firefighting. Brandon Coalter and Paul Cabana "would like to be a firefighter" if they were not playing hockey, according to the Everblades' Web site.
Nisbet helped Coalter get into the Fort Myers Fire Academy. Cabana is taking a distance-learning firefighting course.
"I wasn't actively recruiting hockey players. So far, what I've seen come out of the ranks has been outstanding," Nisbet said.
Everblades Coach Gerry Fleming is not surprised. Pagnutti and Lindgren were team captains, and they are good men, he said.
"That togetherness, that brotherhood, would come even more into play being a firefighter," Fleming said. "It's a matter of life and death."
And they're always welcome in the Everblades locker room.