Chicago Blackhawks: Colin Fraser Days Until Banner Raising

We had so much fun doing our Countdown to Faceoff series last season that we decided to do it again.  In case you’re new to the series, we’ll do a roster preview as we count down the days until the Chicago Blackhawks raise their 6th Stanley Cup Banner on October 7th season opener against the New York Rangers.

I’m filling in for Keith today on our countdown to Opening Night post, and I’ve somehow drawn a number worn by a fellow Colin.

We’re at 46 days until the Blackhawks open their third Stanley Cup defense in six seasons, so we’re taking a look at those who have donned the No. 46 while wearing the Indian Head. The list is pretty short, as six guys have worn that number for Chicago since 1950. Colin Fraser is probably the most memorable of the bunch to the current crop of Blackhawks fans.

Fraser was drafted 69th overall by Philadelphia in the 2003 draft. He wound up with the Blackhawks in 2004 in a trade that also brought Jim Vandermeer and a draft pick that would turn into Bryan Bickell to Chicago, with Alexei Zhamnov and a draft pick going to the Flyers.

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Fraser made his NHL debut during the 2007-08 season and played with the Blackhawks through the 2009-10 campaign. He’s proven to be more of an irritant than anything, as his career high in points (19 in 2009-10) is well short of his career high in penalty minutes (67 in 2011-12 with Los Angeles). As a Blackhawk, Fraser participated in 157 regular-season and five postseason games, tallying 13 goals and 23 assists (none of those came in playoff action).

Fraser is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, though, as he was part of the 2010 Chicago championship team and 2012 Los Angeles title-winning outfit. He was traded to Edmonton for a draft pick following the Blackhawks’ 2010 run and went on to one season with the Oilers and three with the Kings. He played a game for the St. Louis Blues last season as well and is now overseas in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

A look at the few other men to wear No. 46 with Chicago:

Dennis Bonvie, 1998-99

Regular season: 11 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, minus-4 rating, 44 penalty minutes

Postseason: N/A

Shawn Byram, 1991-92

Regular season: 1 game, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 rating, 0 penalty minutes

Postseason: N/A

Todd Gill, 2002-03

Regular season: 5 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, plus-3 rating, 0 penalty minutes

Postseason: N/A

Tuomas Gronman, 1996-97

Regular season: 16 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, minus-4 rating, 13 penalty minutes

Postseason: N/A

Dmitri Nabokov, 1997-98

Regular season: 25 games, 7 goals, 4 assists, minus-1 rating, 10 penalty minutes

Postseason: N/A

It’s worth noting that Nabokov was a first-round pick of the Blackhawks, going at 19th overall in the 1995 draft. Needless to say, he was covered in one of our previous posts about draft busts.

That’s all for today. Check back in tomorrow for No. 45 on our countdown to Opening Night!

Next: Blackhawks Top Post-Lockout Rivals, Part I

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