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Inducted 2007  Tony Fritz grew up in Allan, Saskatchewan, and excelled in hockey, soccer, baseball, and track & field while in high school. He went on to become a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and was considered one of the top five National Hockey League prospects before an eye injury ended his playing career.
Wanting both an education and the opportunity to remain active in the sport of hockey, Fritz coached the sport at University School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Wildcats posted a 159-90-7 record and were a state power under his direction. Fritz was hired as the head men’s soccer and hockey coach at Lake Forest College in 1978. The Forester soccer team was 145-65-19 and captured at least a share of eight Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference championships in 16 years with Fritz on the sideline. The team also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1980. He coached the hockey team to an American Collegiate Hockey Association title in 1987 and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1991. In 1992 he took the program into the highly-competitive Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and directed the team to three consecutive NCHA Peters Cup semifinal appearances from 2004-06. He won his 300th game on January 31, 2004, and ranks among the top 50 all-time in collegiate coaching victories (all divisions). At the time of his induction he had coached nearly 500 varsity athletes in nearly 1,000 contests in the two sports combined. He was also the only Forester head coach to lead two different programs in career victories. Fritz was also a 2006 inductee into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame and was featured in a book to be on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. He and his wife Pat have two children (Curtis and Charlene) and three grandchildren (Griffin, Owen, and Lily).
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