Being a 6-foot-5, 235-pounder with enough punching power to put a hole in a brick wall means never having to say you're sorry.
So Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins winger Mike Sgroi isn't exactly apologizing for what happened after his latest fight, a wild heavyweight tilt with Philadelphia's Josh Gratton on Saturday night at the Wachovia Arena.
He would like the opportunity to explain himself a bit, though. After landing several bombs on the noggin of the Phantoms winger, Sgroi raced to the penalty box like his hair was on fire and gestured to an already roaring crowd. "I never, ever showboat like that," Sgroi said. "I think it's a little disrespectful. I didn't feel good about what I did. That's the kind of thing that can give the other team momentum."I was just so intense. I thought I played poorly the previous game against Albany. I was so intense to play Philly because I knew I had to be mentally strong and bounce back." There was one other factor at work as well. "It's pretty cheap what happens when that kid fights. His jersey comes up over his head every time," Sgroi said, noting that it is difficult to get a grip on an opponent who has shed his sweater. "I think it would have been even more one-sided had that jersey stayed on. But that's what he does. That's his thing."
Penguins fans roared during Sgroi's fight with Gratton. They roared even more when the Penguins scored 19 seconds later. They've been doing a lot of roaring when Sgroi steps on the ice these days. A minor-league hockey team's tough guy is almost always going to be one of its most popular players, but Penguins fans seem to recognize a little something else in Sgroi. Opponents don't just treat him with respect because he will stand up for his teammates. They actually appear to be intimidated by him. The list of players who have declined invitations to fight Sgroi this season is longer than the list of those who have accepted. Sgroi has different opinions of the players who have declined fights. He is not a big of fan of Binghamton's Brian McGrattan or Philadelphia's Ben Eager and Riley Cote, for example. "What I'm seriously opposed to is people who decline, and then after declining, run their mouth," Sgroi said. The situation was a little different when Sgroi met up with Syracuse's Brandon Sugden, considered by many the AHL's reigning heavyweight champ, in a game last month. Sugden declined a fight just after the Crunch had taken a 2-0 lead. "I looked at him in his eye. He wasn't scared of me," Sgroi said. "He just wanted to make it his fight at his time." Many players would take the same tact Sugden did. There's no reason to give an opposing tough guy a chance to change the momentum of the gave if his team is already trailing by two goals. Sgroi sees it a bit differently. "I think it's an opportunity to deliver another nail in the coffin," Sgroi said. "I don't want to sound cocky. That's just the way you have to think to do this job. If you have even a slight inkling of doubt, you're not going to be half as tough as you could be."
All this begs a question, then: Is there any situation where Sgroi would turn down a fight? Just one. "If my coach looks directly at me and says, 'You are absolutely not to fight right now,' and says it with a serious tone," Sgroi said. "But I've never played for a coach who's said that to me."