Jiri Fischer leads Team Shocks to another win in 2016 Shocks and Saves charity hockey game

Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com Former Detroit Red Wing Jiri Fischer handles the puck at the ninth annual Shocks and Saves game at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw on Jan. 30, 2016.

(Jacob Hamilton)

Jiri Fischer was lying in a hospital bed, shortly after a brush with death, when he went into cardiac arrest during a game, and Mike Ilitch was there for him.

"Mr. Ilitch was the first visitor I had in my hospital room," Fischer, the former Detroit Red Wings defenseman, said Friday. "I found out later the first thing he told my fiancee (Avory) at the time was, 'Don't worry, we'll take care of Jiri. We're honoring the contract and we'll make sure he gets better.' "

Fischer, who works in player evaluation for the Red Wings, was in Sweden on a scouting assignment when he received news that team owner Mike Ilitch died Friday at age 87.

"Obviously, it's very very sad," Fischer, 36, said.

"Mr. Ilitch was a very special man in my life. The family is the first and only employer I've had. It's been 19 years. From being drafted to being a player to rehabbing as a cardiac patient to working in the front office, they've been special in my life."

Fischer, the Red Wings' top draft pick in 1998, was a big, physical defenseman just coming into his own when his career ended on Nov. 21, 2005, following a scare during a game against the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena.

"It was a very emotional night, but I didn't grasp the magnitude of it because I was unconscious and then I woke up in the hospital and there were groups of visitors coming into my room," Fischer said.

They came six or seven at a time, starting with Mike and Marian Ilitch and family members, followed by general manager Ken Holland and front office personnel and teammates, including leaders Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan.

"I didn't realize at the time, laying in the hospital, how much my cardiac arrest affected people that witnessed it because I was unconscious," Fischer said. "The calming effect the Ilitches had on the whole situation from basically taking charge, there were all resources available, whatever needed to be done to save my life, No. 1, to whatever needed to be done to start the proper recovery process."

The Ilitches flew Fischer's parents, Jiri Sr. and Vera, over from the Czech Republic the following day.

"At the most tense, potentially panicky times, the leaders step up, they calm the situation down and they just keep moving forward," Fischer said. "I was panicking. I didn't know what was going on in my life after that day and my fiancee didn't know what was going on, how were the days that were going to follow, and the Ilitches made me feel that I was part of the whole big Red Wings family and I wasn't a castaway because I couldn't play anymore."

Ilitch's commitment to winning was second-to-none. He spared no expense, in the NHL's pre-salary cap days, to bring the best players and coaches to Detroit.

The moribund franchise Ilitch purchased in 1982 for $8 million is worth an estimated $625 million today, according to Forbes, following 25 consecutive playoff appearances and four Stanley Cup championships under his ownership.

"The way Mr. Ilitch always showed his appreciation when the team did well, the way he always wanted to push for more, that was extremely motivating, for the whole team," Fischer said. "There were several times every year we got to interact with Mr. Ilitch, whether it was at the Wings locker room or Joe Louis Arena or at Tigers games at Comerica Park, where he would bring us annually over and had us in his suite, talking to us, taking time. It really made us feel that we were part of something really neat.

"The experience I had on a personal level was special. Now that Mr. Ilitch passed away today, it's very sad, and at the same time I have the greatest memories on so many levels."