Curt Fraser

Curtis Martin Fraser (born January 12, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played for the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1978-79 and 1989-90. He featured in the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals with the Canucks.

Curt Fraser
Born (1958-01-12) January 12, 1958
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Vancouver Canucks
Chicago Black Hawks
Minnesota North Stars
National team  United States
NHL Draft 22nd overall, 1978
Vancouver Canucks
Playing career 1978–1990

Fraser was born in Cincinnati while his father played for the International Hockey League's Cincinnati Mohawks, and was raised in Winnipeg and Vancouver. He holds dual Canadian and American citizenship. Fraser was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983 and is active in fundraising and awareness efforts for the disease.[1]

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1971 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from North Vancouver.[2]

Fraser played junior hockey with the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League, where he set franchise records for goals, assists, points, and penalty minutes. He was then drafted 22nd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. He made the team right away and was placed on a line with fellow rookies Thomas Gradin and Stan Smyl. The trio would be the Canucks' top offensive line for the next four years and play a large role in the club's trip to the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals.

On December 20, 1982, Fraser was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for Tony Tanti. He had his best season in Chicago, registering 68 points (29 goals and 39 assists) in only 61 games in 1985–86. After five years with the Hawks, he was dealt to the Minnesota North Stars on January 2, 1988, for Dirk Graham. After playing in only 53 games over the next two and a half years with the Stars, his back problems forced him to retire in 1990.

Owing to his dual U.S./Canadian citizenship, Fraser has represented both countries in international tournaments. He played for Canada at the 1978 World Junior Championship and for the USA at the 1987 Canada Cup.[3]

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Fraser embarked upon a coaching career. After minor league stops in Milwaukee, Syracuse, and Orlando, Fraser became the first head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999. His record was 64–169–46 over three and a half seasons with Atlanta before being fired in 2003. Since then he has served as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues.

Recently, he has coached the Belarusian national men's ice hockey team at the 2007 and 2008 IIHF World Championships.

On July 23, 2008, the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins hired Fraser as their head coach, where he served until June 18, 2012, when he was hired by the Dallas Stars as assistant coach.[4] He remained in that position for five seasons.[5]

Fraser was named head coach of Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the second half of the 2018–19 season.[6][7] He remained with Kunlun through to the 2019–20 season, unable to guide the Chinese club to the post-season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Kelowna Buckaroos BCHL 52 32 32 64 85 — — — — —
1974–75 Victoria Cougars WCHL 68 17 32 49 105 12 2 3 5 22
1975–76 Victoria Cougars WCHL 71 43 64 107 167 18 3 8 11 38
1976–77 Victoria Cougars WCHL 60 34 41 75 82 4 4 2 6 4
1977–78 Victoria Cougars WCHL 66 48 44 92 256 13 10 7 17 28
1978–79 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 16 19 35 116 3 0 2 2 6
1979–80 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 17 25 42 143 4 0 0 0 2
1980–81 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 25 24 49 118 3 1 0 1 2
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks NHL 79 28 39 67 175 17 3 7 10 98
1982–83 Vancouver Canucks NHL 36 6 7 13 99 — — — — —
1982–83 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 38 6 13 19 77 13 4 4 8 18
1983–84 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 29 5 12 17 28 5 0 0 0 14
1984–85 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 73 25 25 50 109 15 6 3 9 36
1985–86 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 61 29 39 68 84 3 0 1 1 12
1986–87 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 75 25 25 50 182 2 1 1 2 10
1987–88 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 27 4 6 10 57 — — — — —
1987–88 Minnesota North Stars NHL 10 1 1 2 20 — — — — —
1988–89 Minnesota North Stars NHL 35 5 5 10 76 — — — — —
1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 8 1 0 1 22 — — — — —
NHL totals 704 193 240 433 1,306 65 15 18 33 198

International
Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1978 Canada WJC 5 0 2 2 0
1987 United States CC 5 0 1 1 4

Coaching
TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTOTLPtsDivision rankResult
Atlanta Thrashers1999–2000 82145774395th in SoutheastMissed Playoffs
2000–01 822345122604th in SoutheastMissed Playoffs
2001–02 821947115545th in SoutheastMissed Playoffs
2002–03 3382014(74)3rd in SoutheastMissed Playoffs
Total279641693115


References
  1. "Grand Rapids Griffins: Curt Fraser". Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  2. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  3. "Legends of Hockey: Curt Fraser". Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  4. "Curt Fraser leaves Grand Rapids Griffins for Dallas Stars". June 18, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  5. Fraley, Gerry (June 18, 2018). "Stars keeping two assistants on Montgomery's first coaching staff". sportsday.dallasnews.com. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  6. "Jussi Tapola ja Jyrki Aho saivat potkut KHL:ssä!".
  7. "新闻详情". Retrieved March 31, 2019.
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