Defenseman Darnell Nursecame straight outta Bakersfield to score the first goal of his National Hockey League career Tuesday night.
Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse.
Nurse, the Edmonton Oilers’ 2013 first-round draft pick, was called up from the Bakersfield Condors – the Oil’s American Hockey League farm team in California – and inserted into the lineup in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
He responded to the promotion by scoring on a slap shot at 3:38 of the third period that gave the Oilers a brief 3-2 lead. Defenseman Oscar Klefbom and left wing Benoit Pouliotassisted on the tally.
In 19:20 of ice time, Nurse fired two shots, had three hits and two blocked shots.
The Oilers assigned Nurse to start the 2015-16 hockey season in Bakersfield. There, he had no goals, one assist, and seven penalty minutes in six games for the Condors.
The former captain for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Nurse helped power Team Canada to the Gold Medal at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal.
He had one goal, no assists, and a plus-minus rating of +8 in seven tournament games and opponents didn’t score while he was on the ice. He was named one of Canada’s three best players in the tourney.
Nurse hails from an athletic family. His younger sister, Kia Nurse, is a point guard for the 2015 NCAA Division I champion University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team and a member of the Canadian women’s national team. Older sister Tamika played basketball for the University of Oregon and Bowling Green State University.
Their father Richard Nurse, was a wide receiver for the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats; their mother Cathy was a basketball standout at Canada’s McMaster University.
When he was younger, Darnell Nurse spent time with his uncle, former PhiladelphiaEagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. A cousin, Sarah Nurse, plays hockey for the University of Wisconsin.
When last we checked in with Damon Kwame Mason and Everett Fitzhugh they were busy chasing separate hockey dreams. Mason was attempting to make a documentary chronicling the history and growth of blacks in hockey and Fitzhugh was trying to land a gig as a professional hockey play-by-play announcer.
These days, Fitzhugh is proudly calling goals and hockey’s rough-and-tumble action at home and road games for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL, his latest stop on a journey that he hopes will lead to a National Hockey League broadcasting career.
And after nearly four years, spending about $200,000 of mostly his own money, and shooting more than 50 hours of footage, Mason can finally call himself a filmmaker – and a pretty good one. His “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future” won a People’s Choice Award at the Edmonton International Film Festivalearlier this month.
“I knew I was going to finish. Did I know when? No.” Mason told me recently. “There were times I was frustrated – the lack of money, sometimes the lack of support – but I knew, eventually, I’d get it done only because I started out on that mission and I don’t like giving up.”
Damon Kwame Mason (right) interviews Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Trevor Daley for black hockey history documentary.
Making the doc was business and personal for Mason, who hopes the movie will help him make the transition from working in radio to a career in film. As a Canadian, he felt a duty to tell the stories of black players from back in the day and today who sometimes faced racial cruelty and even death threats just for trying to pursue their passion.
“Especially the guys in the 70s and the 80s who were the only ones in the dressing room or the ones that would go to an arena and everyone is yelling ‘nigger’ or ‘spook’ at them,” said Mason, a Toronto native. “They had a choice: Do you want to give up or do you want to continue to do something that you love. And that’s what they did, they continued doing something that they loved. And that’s what I did in making this film.”
The film features chilling footage of a CBS News profile of Val James, the NHL’s first U.S.-born black player, enduring chants of “Spook! Spook! Spook!” as he’s playing a minor league game south of the Mason-Dixon line in Salem, Va., in 1981. One proud “fan” carried a watermelon to the game in James’ honor.
Mason covers the waterfront of black hockey history in his documentary, from the all-black league that played in the Canadian Maritimes from the 1890s to the 1920s, to the great Herb Carnegie’s heartbreak from being unable reach the NHL because of his race, to Willie O’Ree finally cracking that color barrier, to the Subban family having three boys drafted by NHL teams.
He crisscrossed North America to interview a bevy of current and former NHL players of color and their families including James, who played for the Buffalo Sabres, O’Ree, who broke into the NHL with the Boston Bruins in 1958, Mike Marson, who became the league’s second black player when he joined the Washington Capitals in 1974-75, and Grant Fuhr, the all-world goaltender who won five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers.
Joel Ward of the San Jose Sharks, Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers, P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks’Trevor Daley are among the current black NHLers who appear in the film.
James says he’s no film critic but he gave Mason’s effort five stars are seeing it at a private screening in Toronto earlier this month.
Vancouver Canucks defensive prospect Jordan Subban prepares parents Karl and Maria for their close-ups in “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future.”
“Kwame has put together a piece of history,” he said. “It was very enlightening and filled in that gap that most people ask: why, when, and where did (these players) come from. Anyone who’s interested in this type of thing, it’s like candy.”
Mason’s finished work on the film but the work of getting “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future” to a theater or television network near you has only just begun. He’s searching Canada and the U.S. for a buyer that will show his product. If one doesn’t materialize, Mason says he’ll still be at peace.
“There were a lot of sacrifices,” he told me. “I’m in the hole – all my money is going out. I hope that some money will come back in. If it doesn’t, I can rest my head and say I accomplished something for my nation and for black Canadians as a celebration.”
Former Washington Capitals forward Mike Marson shares his experience as the NHL’s second black hockey player in the documentary.
It seems fitting that Fitzhugh is living his hockey broadcast dream in the city associated with the television classic “WKRP in Cincinnati.”
“It’s awesome, I still can’t believe it,” Fitzhugh told me. “Everything has happened so fast. I’ve been fortunate to move up the ladder so quickly.”
When we visited with Fitzhugh in March 2014 he was working public relations in the Chicago headquarters of the United States Hockey League, a Tier I junior league that sends many of its players on to NCAA Division I college hockey careers.
He was thrilled to be working in organized hockey but yearned to be behind the microphone calling games like his heroes, Detroit Red Wings broadcaster Ken Kal and NBC’s Mike “Doc” Emrick.
A Detroit native, Fitzhugh called 120 hockey games while he was a student at Bowling Green StateUniversity and thirsted to do more. He got his chance last season broadcasting for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.
At 26, Everett Ftizhugh rocks the mic as play-by-play announcer for the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones.
“If I had to name one person who I may take some tips from or take a little bit from is Jim Hughson who does the “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast and did the NHL video game series for quite a while,” Fitzhugh said. “Very, very deep voice, very technical, which I love. He’s fun to listen to.”
When the Cyclones came calling with an offer to work the team’s home and away games online, he jumped at the chance to move one rung closer to an NHL broadcasting career.
“I thought I was going to be in Youngstown for three, four, five years, have to struggle, scrap and all that other stuff,” he said. “To be able to make it to the ECHL at 26 and get back on the path I thought I would be on when I left college – the two previous radio guys at Bowling Green before me, they all went straight to the ECHL from Bowling Green. I couldn’t even get a radio job out of college. So to be on this path is a really good feeling.”
But there are still dues to be paid. Fitzhugh’s official title with the Cyclones is Director of Public Relations and Broadcasting, a lofty handle that means he does everything. He writes the press release, tweets the tweets, works with Cincinnati sportscasters in arranging interviews with players, handles web content, and maybe even helps load and unload the team bus – all before and after putting on the headset and calling the game.
And, like Cyclone players whose action he describes on air, Fitzhugh travels to road games minor league-style on the team bus.
“I think this year our longest bus ride in terms of mileage is going to be down to Allen, Texas, that’s got to be about 17-18 hours from here,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll be taking planes until I get to the NHL.”
When people ask Shandor Alphonso what number he wears on the back and sleeves of his black-and-white-striped National Hockey League linesman sweater, he smiles and assures them that “you won’t have any trouble finding me” on the ice.
Alphonso and Jay Sharrers are easily recognizable because they are the only black on-ice officials among the NHL’s small army of linesmen and referees.
Linesman Shandor Alphonso (Photo/Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
The 31-year-old Orangeville, Ontario, native is a relative newbie to the league. He’ll begin his second season as an NHL linesman when he takes to the ice in Buffalo Saturday in a game between the Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Last season, Alphonso worked 50 NHL games along with 37 American Hockey League contests and that league’s Calder Cup Final.
“I’m a big hockey fan, so I love that I have the best seat in the house,” Alphonso told me recently. “I enjoy the fact that I’m there. As an on-ice official I feel like I’m part of the game, I’m in the game.”
Sharrers, 48, is the veteran, starting his 26th year as an NHL official. He became the league’s first black linesman when he worked a match between the Boston Bruins and Quebec Nordiques in October 1990.
A native of New Westminster, British Columbia, Sharrers made history again when he became the league’s first black referee, officiating a contest between the Philadelphia Flyers and Lightning in April 2001.
Since joining the NHL, Sharrers has officiated in more than 1,190 NHL regular season
Linesman Jay Sharrers (Photo/ Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
games and 163 playoff games. He’s worked seven Stanley Cup Finals, the 2010Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the 2006 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas.
“Having done this job going on 26 years, I can say without a doubt that on a daily, game-in, game-out basis, you’re challenged every time you step on the ice,” Sharrers told me. “It’s very demanding. Physically, for one. And, of course, there’s the mental side of it because with the speed of the game now, and how it’s evolved into such a quick, fast-paced game, it’s a constant mental challenge game-in and game-out to be prepared, to be focused for 60 minutes of a game.”
Sharrers and Alphonso are co-workers but they haven’t worked an NHL game together yet. But that hasn’t stopped them from forming a mutual admiration society.
“He’s a tremendous young man, he’s got a great character, he’s got a good hockey IQ,” Sharrers said of Alphonso. “My goal when I got hired was to work the Stanley Cup, and I was fortunate enough to do that seven times. At this point in my career, it’s probably more of a responsibility to try to help the young people in the business, working with a guy like Shandor and give them the opportunity, the experience that was given to me when I first started by the veteran officials when I first started.”
“I looked up to him even before I started officiating,” Alphonso said of Sharrers. “Any time you see a player of color in the NHL, you notice him. And to see an on-ice official, it was pretty amazing to me. My very first training camp, he said ‘If you ever have any questions, no matter what it is, no matter what time, call.’ That was huge.”
So what possesses a person to put on minimal protective gear, carry a whistle, get on the ice and to try to police aggressive, well-armored players wielding sticks and possessing the power to launch pucks over 100 miles an hour in front of thousands of screaming, beer-fueled fans?
Sharrers and Alphonso both started out as hockey players. But Sharrers came to the realization at 15 that “my chances of making it as a player weren’t that good” so he sought a different path to the NHL.
“I turned my attention to officiating, thinking that could be a vehicle I could take to the NHL,” he told me. “I started working my way up through the junior hockey ranks in Canada, went to some officiating schools in the summer, got noticed, got scouted. I worked in the Western Hockey League, probably my first taste of elite hockey, in 1985. Then I got hired (by the NHL) in 1990. Officiating was a way of staying involved in a game I love.”
Alphonso played hockey through major juniors and college. He was a rugged left wing who played 183 games for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves from 2001-02 to 2003-04, notching 25 goals, 48 assists and collecting 143 penalty minutes.
Before he became an NHL linesman, Shandor Alphonso was a rugged winger for Canada’s Lakehead University (Photo/Lakehead University)
He went on to skate for Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, from 2005-06 to 2009-10. He tallied 18 goals, 22 assists, and accumulated 121 penalty minutes in 111 games for the Thunderwolves.
“I was on the other end yelling at the referee,” he said.
During his fourth year at Lakehead, Alphonso received an invitation from the NHL to participate in the NHL Amateur Exposure Combine, an officiating camp designed to entice major junior, U.S., and Canadian college hockey players to consider becoming linesmen or referees.
After his final season at Lakehead, Alphonso was prepared to sign a professional contract to play in the Central Hockey League when he had a sudden change of heart.
“The NHL kind of told us, ‘If you’re good, you can get to the NHL in five years,'” He recalled. “I thought why not give it try, I never officiated before, and I really enjoyed it once I tried it out.”
Alphonso chose becoming an NHL linesman over chasing a pro hockey career (Photo/Courtesy Shandor Alphonso).
“Learned a lot from him and the instructors at that camp,” Alphonso said. “In three days, they showed me everything, the basics and the fundamentals for officiating.”
He then embarked on an experience-gathering, dues-paying journey through the alphabet soup of hockey leagues.
“I went from minor hockey to the OHL,” he said. “Second-year officiating in the OHL and in the OHA as well, doing major junior and Tier II junior – did both those leagues for three years. Also worked minor hockey at the same time. I felt I had a lot to learn so I wanted to be on the ice as much as I could.”
Alphonso, left, worked the AHL’s 2015 Calder Cup Final between the Utica Comets and Manchester Monarchs (Photo/Courtesy Lindsay A. Mogle/Utica Comets)
The NHL invited Alphonso back to its exposure combine in summer 2014 and hired him two weeks after the camp ended. Now he sometimes finds himself officiating games with former hockey teammates, opponents, or players he trained with before he donned the zebra stripes.
“I had a situation in the AHL, an individual I used to train with quite a bit. I had to kick him out of the face-off because of a violation he committed,” Alphonso recalled. “He comes over to me in a TV time-out, he’s like ‘Are you serious? You’re kicking me out of a face-off? We used to run hills and puke together after hot days working out so hard and you’re kicking me out?'”
Alphonso replied “Yeah, we used to spend a lot of time training and working hard and running hills together, but I have to do this job now.”
