Iain Fraser

Iain Fraser played 94 games in the National Hockey League, including a full season with the Quebec Nordiques in 1993-94 when he scored 17 goals and 37 points in 60 games. He made brief appearances with the Islanders, Jets, Oilers and Sharks before disappearing to Europe.

But I will always Iain Fraser as captain of the Oshawa Generals.

Being from BC, it was not easy to watch OHL games. But that all changed late in the 1989-90 season, as suddenly the Generals were on national television. Why? Because they had just acquired the most heralded junior player in years - Eric Lindros.

While curious eyes all tuned into see Lindros, my eyes quickly took to following the overaged captain of the team, Fraser. He was the grizzled veteran of the team, at least by junior standards. While Lindros had the NHL waiting for him, in many ways this was Fraser's last chance.

For Fraser, in his last year of junior hockey, this was his last chance to win. Maybe that's why I took such a likiing to him. He was a sad story in some ways. He had only one chance left. And given his 233rd overall draft selection in 1989, the future was not exactly encourage expectations for Fraser's NHL dreams.

Lindros was brought in to help the Generals win the Memorial Cup, and win they did, in front of national television audiences. New heroes were born in front of us, including Fraser. With 32 points in 17 playoff games, including 10 in 4 Memorial Cup games, Fraser was named as the Memorial Cup's Most Valuable Player. It was a great way to end a junior hockey career.

As it turned out Fraser had a good pro career ahead of him, too. He went onto play 94 games in the NHL, including that full season with the same Nordiques team Lindros refused to play for. He even scored 23 goals and 46 points in his career. He was an all star at the AHL level before heading to Europe to star in Germany and Britain where he was treated as a hero.

All in all, a pretty good career for a hockey player for a player I originally felt a touch sorry for.