Winding Road Through Winnipeg

They may be from two different eras of professional hockey in Winnipeg, but the winding career paths of Eldon "Pokey" Reddick and Fred Brathwaite have brought them both to the Las Vegas area where they continue to grow the game they love.
Reddick, now 57, wore the Winnipeg Jets colours between 1986 and 1989 primarily as part of the goaltending duo known as 'Pokey and the Bandit' with fellow netminder Daniel Berthiaume in the 1.0 era.
These days, Reddick helps out at The Yard, a facility where parents can bring their young goaltenders to practice on small artificial ice surfaces as they learn the position - without the steep cost of renting ice.
"I've been helping here for probably 12 years," said Reddick. "We still have a lot to teach the kids. Whenever we can get an opportunity to give kids pointers on the game we love to do, which was hockey, the kids are all for it. We try to help as much as we can when it comes to promoting this game of hockey."

Meanwhile, Brathwaite - the current goaltending coach of the American Hockey League's Henderson Silver Knights - played 109 games for the Manitoba Moose between 1996 and 1998, the first two seasons that the International Hockey League team played in the province's capital.
"That organization gave me that opportunity to do that and to move forward in my career and as a person as well," said Brathwaite. "It was right after the Jets left and we weren't too sure how the city was going to take us. Coming in there, the fans were supportive, the teammates, Mark Chipman, the whole group was excellent. That's one of the biggest things I remember from being in Manitoba was just the family."
Reddick had the same feeling when he signed his contract with the Jets in 1986. He says without John Ferguson, the Jets general manager at the time, he didn't think he'd have the opportunity to play in the National Hockey League.

Not only did Reddick get that opportunity, he got to meet the team's captain that very first day.
"I met Dale Hawerchuk on the way in. It was great. I got on the phone and it was like 'Dad, I made it!' So I was so happy," Reddick said. "Of course, there are a bunch of other people. Dan Maloney, Craig Heisinger, all these guys made it comfortable for me to come in and try to perform the best I could."
Along with Winnipeg, the two share another similarity, and that's an idolization of the first black player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Grant Fuhr. For two black goaltenders trying to find their way in the game, Fuhr was someone to look up to.

In Reddick's case, he idolized Fuhr in more of a working relationship type of way. He was always at the other end of the ice during the memorable Jets and Edmonton Oilers rivalries of the 1980s, but when Reddick was traded to Edmonton prior to the 1989-90 season - he got to know Fuhr differently.
"At that particular time he was probably the best goalie in the world," said Reddick, who won a Stanley Cup with the Oilers that season. "He'd say 'maybe if you did a little bit of this, it would help you with that.' So he was kind of like a big brother in that sense."
As Reddick was getting tips from Fuhr during practice, Brathwaite was a 17-year-old stopping pucks for the Orillia Terriers of the Central Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
"The Edmonton Oilers were such a great team and you got to see them on TV every day," Brathwaite said. "Then, seeing another guy who looked like myself and a goaltender, Grant Fuhr was obviously a huge idol for myself."
At that time, black representation in the game was lagging behind where it is today, though Reddick and Brathwaite agree there is still a lot of progress to be made in that department.
Reddick remembers his dad telling him about Willie O'Ree, the first black player to play in the NHL in January of 1958.
"You look up and you're watching TV and he's the only coloured guy out there playing," said Reddick. "Not that it was my position, but if he can play, then maybe there is an opportunity for me to get a chance to play. In general, he's the trailblazer. Without him, I don't know where it would have been from here."
Reddick went on to play 122 games in the NHL with the Jets, Oilers, and Florida Panthers. That's on top of his numerous seasons in the IHL, AHL, and three seasons in Germany's DEL near the end of his playing career in the early 2000s.
He still has his eyes on the game though. His 32-year-old son, Bryce, plays for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in the East Coast Hockey League.
His team wasn't involved in the incident involving Jacob Panetta of the Jacksonville Icemen making a racist gesture toward South Carolina Stingrays defenceman Jordan Subban.
Father and son did discuss it though.
"He said 'there is just no place for that in any game,'" said Reddick. "There is still so much room for improvement. It makes it tough to say you take 10 steps forward, you take 40 back. It's one of those ongoing fixes - I'm going to call them. It's an unfortunate situation."

Even with those frustrating setbacks, both Reddick and Brathwaite are optimistic about the future of the game and its diversity.
They look at Quinton Byfield of the Los Angeles Kings - the second overall pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2020 - and Darnell Nurse - a big name defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers - as just two examples of the players kids can look up to.
And that short list doesn't even include P.K. Subban, Anthony Duclair, Mathieu Joseph, K'Andre Miller, or Matt Dumba.
"I feel that hockey is a more diverse sport right now," said Brathwaite. "You're seeing more girls playing, you're seeing more different backgrounds playing. I feel that hockey is getting better, it's not where it has to be, but we're getting better at that."
Just like when Reddick was with his dad, hearing him talk about O'Ree playing for the Bruins, he looks at the black representation in the game as a positive thing for the kids he works with every day.
"I just think the more people they see of their race, or their colour, or their ethnicity, the easier it is for them to say 'Hey I want to do this mom' or 'Hey I want to do this dad,'" said Reddick. "It's a big help when you get to see different people in different realms step up and make the National Hockey League become big figures to these kids. It's a great opportunity to see those kinds of people and they're good character people."
The same could be said of Reddick and Brathwaite, who continue to promote the game everywhere they go.
Brathwaite even got into a game last season, when at the age of 48 he suited up as the backup goaltender to Henderson's starter - Jiri Patera - with Logan Thompson unavailable.
"I was pretty comfortable because most of my career was on the bench, so that's where I was - on the bench," he laughed. "The guys were very supportive. The other team, San Diego, was very supportive as well. It was nice just to be back in the dressing room and back with the guys again."
Perhaps it reminded him of his time with the Manitoba Moose, where he accomplished another career milestone - scoring a goal.
"I actually just got a card yesterday with a picture of me scoring a goal when I was with the Moose," said Brathwaite. "I don't know if you guys sent that or not, but it's a little ironic that it's all coming back full circle."
No matter where they go, Brathwaite and Reddick's memories of Winnipeg stay with them.
"I played five years there and enjoyed every day of it," said Reddick. "Great people and the whole city was awesome. I ended up living there for eight years."