AHL Utica Comets

'Hockey Maven' is a Big Fan Of Comets Coach

Published on October 3, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utica Comets News Release


The mutual admiration between the Utica Comets Head Coach, Travis Green, and award-winning hockey broadcaster, Stan Fischler, goes way back.

The chance meeting; right place, right time, came about before a New York Islanders road game, in the Hartford Civic Center. "I've been covering the Islanders on TV since their first game", Fischler said. "He (Green) is an amazing guy, and at the time the only one who I associated with." What first brought Green to the attention of Fischler, a longtime hockey analyst for the MSG Networks, was how much attention the young center paid to his stick. Two decades later and Fischler, 81, can still fire off details of the afternoon before the Isles and Whalers contest.

"I walk into the Islanders dressing room at 3p.m. and I see only one person - Travis Green. So, I goover to schmooze with him, and found Travis to be an easy going guy to talk with", says 'The Hockey Maven', who in 2007 was one of four recipients of the Lester Patrick Trophy. Be it in-between periods of an Islanders, New Jersey Devils or New York Rangers telecast or on Hockey Night Live, the weekly MSG program dedicated to New York City area (Buffalo Sabres, too) teams, game highlights and National Hockey League news, when you hear Fischler addressed as 'Mav', you can credit Green for the shortened tag used. "Every time that I wou;d see Travis he would say, 'what's up 'Mav', how's it going 'Mav'. That stuck with me", Fischler said.

As the budding friendship grew between the two in 1993, Simon Fischler, Stan's young son, Simon, was a fan of the Islanders second round draft pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. At the age of 15 Simon had a serious heart ailment, was in need of a heart transplant. Simon had cardiomyopathy, a disease that eats away the heart muscle. In 1993, Simon Fischler received a new heart.

During the transplant and recovery period, Stan and wife Shirley Fischler, became friendly with another parent, Michael Lentin, who was going through the same healing process with his son Josh. It just so happened that Josh Lentin was an Islanders fan who was introduced to Green. "With Travis taking an interest in Josh, many times we would spend time together. Me, Michael, Josh, and Travis ", Fischler recalls. "I liked the guy (Green), and how he played. We have stayed in touch ever since."

Just as two magnets pull together, the closeness between Green and Fischler went to a new level and location - the Pacific Northwest. Fischler had another son who currently resides in the Portland, Oregon area, where Green happened to coach the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.On May 12, 2013, the Winterhawks defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-1, in game 6, to become the 2012-2013 WHL Champions. When Green took over the head coaching position in mid-season, the Winterhawks compiled a 37-8-0-2 record. "What he (Green) did with that team was phenomenal. I've been covering hockey for more than a half century, and for his team to come up just one win short of winning the Memorial Cup is one of the best stories. First, and foremost, Travis is a pal", Fischler proudly states.

Having Al Arbour for a coach on Long Island, getting to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team he followed as a child, and finishing off his playing days for Zug, a European elite hockey team based in Switzerland, Travis Green has a chest full of treasured memories to call on at will. Add in making a difference in children's lives when most needed and equally private, why wouldn't the 'Mav' or anybody else for that matter want to schmooze with a man of Green's integrity?

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American Hockey League Stories from October 3, 2013


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