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A Canadian In Russia
by Paul on 07/17/08 at 08:33 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Joe O’Conner of the National Post via Faceoff.com,
Brathwaite was not ready to be a cheerleader. So when Omsk called and offered him a half-million dollars—or twice what he was making with the Wolves --he jumped at the opportunity. Sort of.
“It was a very tough decision for me, but I still wanted to play at the highest level I could,” Brathwaite said.
The Avangard fan club was waiting at the airport when he arrived.
“I don’t know if there is nothing else to do there,” Brathwaite said, “but they are definitely European-type hockey fans.”
They would sing fight songs, bang drums and turn the stands into a carnival during home games. But it was away from the rink where Brathwaite suffered his most shattering culture shocks.
thanks to a KK member for the pointer…
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, European Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Fred+Brathwaite,
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Well OF COURSE the fan club was waiting at the airport for him. WTF else is there to do in Omsk?!?
Posted by WK from Chicago on 07/17/08 at 06:24 PM ET
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I can’t imagine what it would be like for a North American (black or white) to move to Siberia to play hockey. I have a lot of respect for anyone willing to do that to continue their career. Nowadays for a European to come to North America, they have more resources to help them. A North American going to Europe (or Asia as it were in the case of parts of Russia) usually won’t have those same resources.
If Ray Emery thought North America didn’t handle diva goalies well, how does he think Russia’s going to handle them? From everything I’ve seen, Brathwaite is about 10 times more-grounded than Emery, and if Freddy struggled… I don’t see a lot of hope for Emery unless he truly has learned his lesson 100%.
Posted by Primis on 07/17/08 at 08:33 AM ET