Colin Fraser (ice hockey) explained

Colin Fraser
Birth Date:28 January 1985
Birth Place:Sicamous, British Columbia, Canada
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:193
Position:Centre/Left wing
Shoots:Left
Played For:Chicago Blackhawks
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
St. Louis Blues
Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers
Draft:69th overall
Draft Year:2003
Draft Team:Philadelphia Flyers
Career Start:2005
Career End:2015

Colin Fraser (born January 28, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and the St. Louis Blues. Fraser is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, having won the Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010, and the Kings in 2012. Fraser was a part of the Kings for the 2014 championship, but didn't qualify to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup that year. After retiring from professional hockey in 2015, Fraser returned to the Blackhawks to work in their scouting department.

Playing career

Minor/Junior

Fraser was born in Sicamous, but raised in Surrey, British Columbia. Growing up, he played minor hockey with the Pacific Vipers of Vancouver with future Chicago Blackhawks teammates Brent Seabrook, Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer.[1] He went on to play major junior in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Red Deer Rebels for four years. He spent time as their team captain. Following a 52-point campaign in his second WHL season, Fraser was drafted in the third round, 69th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. In the subsequent season after being drafted by the Flyers, Fraser was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on February 19, 2004, while still in the WHL, along with Jim Vandermeer and a second round selection (Bryan Bickell) in 2004 in exchange for Alexei Zhamnov and a fourth round selection (R. J. Anderson) in 2004.

Professional

In the subsequent season after being drafted by the Flyers and while still in the WHL, Fraser was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on February 19, 2004, along with Jim Vandermeer and a second-round draft pick (Bryan Bickell) in 2004 in exchange for Alexei Zhamnov and a 2004 fourth-round pick (R. J. Anderson).[2]

Turning professional in 2004–05, Fraser made his debut with the Blackhawks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, appearing in a handful of games following the completion of his fourth and final WHL season. He remained in Norfolk for several seasons and made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks in 2006–07, dressing for one game. In 2007–08, the Rockford IceHogs became Chicago's AHL affiliate, where Fraser scored an AHL career-high 41 points while also playing in five games for the Blackhawks.

During the 2009–10 season, Fraser won the Stanley Cup while playing with the Chicago Blackhawks; he played in three playoff games in the 2010 playoffs (all in the frist round against the Nashville Predators.

On June 24, 2010, it was announced that he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2010 sixth-round draft choice (Mirko Hoefflin).[3]

On June 26, 2011, Fraser was traded by the Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, along with a seventh-round pick in 2012, for Ryan Smyth.[4] Fraser scored the Kings' first goal in Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils, a 2–1 Kings overtime victory. He won his second Stanley Cup on June 11, 2012, with the Kings. He then signed a two-year, $1.65 million contract extension on June 23.[5]

On February 8, 2014, the Kings placed Fraser on waivers for the purpose of demoting him to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL.[6] [7] On April 22, the Kings then recalled Fraser during the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs against the San Jose Sharks;[8] however, he did not appear in any playoff games and once the Kings eventually won the Stanley Cup for the second time in team history after defeating the New York Rangers in five games in the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, he was awarded a ring and was in the team picture but his name was not engraved on the Cup due to not playing any playoff games and playing only 33 games in the 2013–14 NHL season.

On September 5, 2014, the St. Louis Blues announced that they had signed Fraser to a one-year, two-way contract.[9] He did not win a place with the Blues during training camp and, after clearing waivers, was assigned to the Chicago Wolves, their AHL affiliate. On December 31, 2014, Fraser was recalled by St. Louis from the Wolves and subsequently played his first game for the Blues against the Anaheim Ducks on January 2, 2015.

On June 16, 2015, as an impending free agent, Fraser signed to continue his career in Europe in agreeing to a one-year contract with German club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.[10] In the midst of the 2015–16 season, Fraser had appeared in 17 games for the Ice Tigers, registering 5 assists, before opting to immediately retire from professional hockey for personal reasons on November 18, 2015.[11]

After retiring from professional ice hockey, Fraser became an amateur scout for his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks.[12]

International play

During his junior career, Fraser competed for Canada at the 2005 World Junior Championships in Grand Forks. He recorded five points in six games, helping Canada to a gold medal win against Russia in the Final. The gold medal marked Canada's first championship of a five-year run.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2000–01Port Coquitlam BuckaroosPIJHL38 16 24 40 908 2 2 4 21
2001–02Red Deer RebelsWHL67 11 31 42 12623 2 1 3 39
2002–03Red Deer RebelsWHL69 15 37 52 19222 7 6 13 40
2003–04Red Deer RebelsWHL70 24 29 53 17419 5 9 14 24
2004–05Red Deer RebelsWHL63 24 43 67 1487 2 5 7 8
2004–05Norfolk AdmiralsAHL3 0 0 0 206 1 0 1 2
2005–06Norfolk AdmiralsAHL73 12 13 25 1454 0 0 0 7
2006–07Norfolk AdmiralsAHL67 12 24 36 1586 1 0 1 21
2006–07Chicago BlackhawksNHL1 0 0 0 2
2007–08Rockford IceHogsAHL751724411651212328
2007–08Chicago BlackhawksNHL50007
2008–09Chicago BlackhawksNHL81 6 11 17 552 0 0 0 2
2009–10Chicago BlackhawksNHL70712194430000
2010–11Edmonton OilersNHL6732560
2011–12Los Angeles KingsNHL6726867181124
2012–13Los Angeles KingsNHL34257251602210
2013–14Los Angeles KingsNHL3302230
2013–14Manchester MonarchsAHL103364
2014–15Chicago WolvesAHL5998176751014
2014–15St. Louis BluesNHL10000
2015–16Thomas Sabo Ice TigersDEL1705569
AHL totals28953721255593342662
NHL totals3592038582903913416

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2002 World U-17 Hockey Challenge2002Canada PacificU1761016
2002 CanadaU1852134
2005CanadaWJC61452
Junior totals1745912

Awards and honours

AwardYear
WHL
Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy2005
Humanitarian of the Year Award2005
NHL
Stanley Cup champion2010, 2012

Notes and References

  1. Web site: From Vipers to Hawks, they're still together . 2009-02-07 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090422055020/http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/From%2BVipers%2BHawks%2Bthey%2Bstill%2Btogether/1263740/story.html . April 22, 2009 .
  2. Web site: Flyers trade for Zhamnov . . 20 February 2004 . 5 August 2023.
  3. News: Oilers land Colin Fraser . Toronto . The Globe and Mail.
  4. Web site: Oilers acquire Smyth from Kings for Fraser, 7th round pick. The Sports Network. 26 June 2011.
  5. Web site: Stoll, Fraser stay aboard. Los Angeles Kings. 24 August 2012.
  6. http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/08/kings-place-colin-fraser-on-waivers Kings place Colin Fraser on waivers
  7. Web site: Colin Fraser of the Los Angeles Kings to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. 2014-04-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20140501235831/http://www.sportsmedia101.com/losangeleskings/2014/04/30/colin-fraser-of-the-los-angeles-kings-to-the-manchester-monarchs-of-the-ahl/. 2014-05-01. dead.
  8. http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=716014 Kings Recall Colin Fraser
  9. Web site: Blues sign Colin Fraser — one-year two-way deal. September 5, 2014. September 5, 2014. Pro Hockey Talk. NBC Sports. Yerdon. Joe.
  10. Web site: Two time Stanley Cup winner Fraser is coming to Nurnberg . . 2015-06-16 . 2015-06-16 . German . https://web.archive.org/web/20150618151848/http://www.icetigers.de/content/zweifacher-stanley-cup-sieger-colin-fraser-kommt . 2015-06-18 . dead .
  11. Web site: Colin Fraser ends his hockey career . . 2015-11-18 . 2015-11-18 . German . https://web.archive.org/web/20151119131753/http://www.icetigers.de/content/colin-fraser-beendet-seine-eishockey-karriere . 2015-11-19 . dead .
  12. Web site: Powers . Scott . Colin Fraser at home in new role with Blackhawks . The Athletic.