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Wednesday, December 15, 1999
Dynamic duo
Goaltenders turn crease battle into friendship
ST. LOUIS -- A couple of dozen team members rushed to the airline counter, eager to grab their boarding passes and get their luggage checked.
Fred Brathwaite found himself trapped in the midst of his teammates, no chance of getting through the hassle of the check-in quickly.
Then, from off to the side, a shout: "Hey kid, over here."
The veteran Grant Fuhr waved two boarding passes at his goaltending colleague and roommate.
"Stick with me, kid," he laughed as he escorted Brathwaite past his teammates though the security check.
The old man and the kid.
On and off the ice, this goaltending odd couple can be spotted hanging out together. One is a future Hall of Famer and five-time Stanley Cup champion. The other is fighting for an NHL job.
On the ice, Fuhr is a reaction goalie. Brathwaite is a positional specialist. One gets paid $3 million, the other a fifth of that.
Yet, between games, in the shopping malls looking for R & B CDs, at restaurants looking for the best and biggest steaks, or just wandering hotel lobbies, the Flames goaltending duo is inseparable.
It is a relationship that is fostering success for the Flames, and a breath of fresh air in a professional sports world dominated by 'me first' selfishness.
They compete for the same ice time, the same job -- yet they are each other's biggest fans.
"I have become one of his friends. And you have to realize when I was a kid, I idolized him," Brathwaite said of Fuhr. "Even when I was in Edmonton, just to play against him was a huge thing. And now I get a chance to be his friend and play with him."
Brathwaite's respect for Fuhr was articulated long before they became teammates this season.
When Freddie played for the Oilers, he phoned Fuhr to ask if he could wear the No. 31 he had made famous in leading the Oilers to all those Cups.
"Yeah, that was nice respect," laughs Fuhr about that call. "It's not something you expect, or that he had to do, but the fact he went to that extent is kind of nice.
"We've talked about that since and playing with him now has become fun.
"To have a good relationship bodes well for a team atmosphere. Ultimately, my job is to help Freddie be better, too.
"Whatever I can do to help him, and vice versa, makes it a workable arrangement. We have the same interests and do get along well, and being positive and cheering for him can only be beneficial."
But clearly, it is much more beneficial for Brathwaite, who has played 14 of the past 15 games, earning each start with a solid performance the previous game.
"Playing with Grant is a huge thing for me," says Brathwaite. "He's a (future) Hall of Famer and now that I've met him, he's a great person, too.
"If he's playing, I'm not wishing he does poorly.
"The only negative thought I had going in, was that I wasn't going to play too much. A couple of years ago, he played 75 or 76 games in a row and I was thinking hopefully it wasn't one of those seasons."
But it also creates expectations.
Each goalie pushes the other, yet each honestly revels in the other's success. Because, ultimately, it means the team is having success.
"I've played a lot of games lately, but he hasn't been down on me. He's been saying, 'Keep it going, keep playing the same way.'
"We have a good thing, we do compete against each other, but it is a healthy thing.
"He's been in huge games, from Canada Cups to Stanley Cups and he's always looked the same. I hope to look like that, to be like that and maybe one day get the confidence from my teammates that he gets."
There is one sure way to do that.
Stick with Grant, kid.
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