Fred Brathwaite

Did You Know?

• Brathwaite appeared in the Jermaine Dupri rap video 'Welcome to Atlanta' with the St. Lunatics, shot at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
• His parents emigrated to Canada from Barbados in 1964.

Playing career

Brathwaite played major junior in the Ontario Hockey League for the Oshawa Generals, London Knights and Detroit Jr. Red Wings after junior hockey with the Orillia Travelways/Orillia Laidlaw. Undrafted, he signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993 and spent three seasons between the NHL and the Cape Breton Oilers of the American Hockey League. In 1996–97 he joined the Manitoba Moose of the International Hockey League, and on November 9, 1996, he scored a rare goal as a goaltender. He began the 1998–99 season on the Canadian National Team before signing with the Calgary Flames, appearing in 28 games with a 2.45 goals against average and .915 save percentage in his NHL rookie season. After two more seasons with the Flames, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues by general manager Craig Button in a deal for Roman Turek in the 2001 off-season. He backed up in St. Louis for two seasons, then signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets for 2003–04, where he backed up Marc Denis and also played for the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played in the Russian Superleague for Ak-Bars Kazan, staying two seasons before returning to the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. After two seasons in Chicago, he joined Adler Mannheim of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where he posted a 2.37 GAA and .925 save percentage and was named the league's MVP in 2009.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Brathwaite worked as goaltending coach of Adler Mannheim and as Hockey Canada's goaltending consultant. On July 10, 2017, the New York Islanders hired him as goaltending coach; he was replaced on July 25, 2018, by Piero Greco. On January 17, 2021, he became goaltending coach for the Henderson Silver Knights, and on April 24, 2021, he dressed as backup goaltender for the team at age 48 when starting goaltender Logan Thompson was unavailable.