Playing Career
Following junior hockey with the Orillia Travelways/Orillia Laidlaw, Brathwaite played major junior for the Oshawa Generals, London Knights and Detroit Jr. Red Wings in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Undrafted, he was signed by the Edmonton Oilers in 1993. He played in the Oilers' system for three seasons between the NHL and Edmonton's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Cape Breton Oilers.
In 1996–97, Brathwaite began a two-season stint with the Manitoba Moose of the International Hockey League (IHL). In his first season with the Moose, he scored a rare goal as a goaltender November 19, 1996.
Brathwaite began the 1998–99 season on the Canadian National Team before being signed by the Calgary Flames. He appeared in 28 games, recording a 2.45 goals against average and .915 save percentage in what qualified as his NHL rookie season. He remained with the Flames for two more seasons until he was traded to the St. Louis Blues by general manager Craig Button as part of a deal for goaltender Roman Turek in the 2001 off-season. He played with the Blues for two seasons as a backup before being signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2003–04. In his sole season with the Blue Jackets, he backed up Marc Denis while also spending time in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch.
Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Brathwaite played overseas in the Russian Superleague for Ak-Bars Kazan. He remained there for two seasons until returning to North America to play in the AHL for the Chicago Wolves. After two seasons in Chicago, Brathwaite went back to Europe to join Adler Mannheim of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In his first season in Germany, Brathwaite reeled off a 2.37 GAA, .925 save percentage performance to be named the German league's 2009 MVP.
Read more about this topic: Fred Brathwaite
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