On an evening when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will struggle with the lack of diversity among its Oscars nominees, the NHL Network will highlight hockey’s gradually growing diversity with an encore presentation of “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future.”
Damon Kwame Mason (right)interviewed hockey great Herb Carnegie before he passed away in March 2012.
The cable network will air first-time filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason’s black hockey history documentary on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST. (Other time zones, check your local listings).
The network broadcast the film Wednesday night and NHLers from players such as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley to Commissioner Gary Bettman and Washington Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis have taken to the airwaves to promote the film.
“It’s a special thing for someone for someone to put a film out like this,” Daley told “NHL Live Powered by Constellation.”
Bryce Salvador – a retired defenseman who played for the St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils – called the movie “so important.”
“When I was 7-8 years old, just seeing Grant Fuhr play during the heydays of the Oilers really opened my mind to what was possible for someone of color,” Salvador said. “When you see diversity, how it’s growing, ‘Hockey is for Everyone,’ and where it’s going, it’s phenomenal.”
After the black hockey history movie “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future” had its U.S. premiere in Washington, D.C., last month, a lot of you contacted me to ask when will the general public be able to see the film.
Answer: This Wednesday.
First-time filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason’s hockey labor of love will air Wednesday, Feb. 24, in the U.S. on cable’s NHL Network at 8 p.m. EST (folks in other time zones, check your local listings). The network will air an encore presentation on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. EST.
The film chronicles the joy and the pain experienced by black players, from members of the ground-breaking Colored Hockey League in the Canadian Maritimes from 1895 to 1925 to star-studded roster of players currently skating for National Hockey League teams.
Some familiar faces – past and present – share their hockey stories: Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley, San JoseSharks forward Joel Ward, Edmonton Oilers goaltending great Grant Fuhr, BuffaloSabres/Quebec Nordiques/New York Rangers sniper Tony McKegney, and former Sabres/Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Val James, the NHL’s first black player born in the United States.
The NHL is rolling out the red carpet for the movie’s television premiere. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis,Willie O’Ree, the league’s first black player, Oilers rookie defenseman Darnell Nurse, and Mason are scheduled to join NHL Network’s “NHL Live Powered By Constellation” this week to discuss the movie. Mason appeared Tuesday on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.”
Filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason (right) talks hockey with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley in “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future.”
Mason devoted nearly four years and spent about $200,000 of mostly his own money to make the film. It won a People’s Choice Award at the Edmonton International Film Festival in October.
AAs played major role in the history of the NHL. Watch Damon Kwame Mason's (@kwamster007) film Soul on Ice 2morrow night on the NHL Network.
The film was shown at screenings in Canada before Bettman and Leonsis brought it across the border and hosted the private screening in Washington last month. The event also featured a Q&A session with O’Ree, Mason, and ex-NHLers-turned TV hockey analysts Kevin Weekes and Anson Carter.
Morgan State University, a black college in Baltimore, Md., hosted the film’s second U.S. screening last week.
Tough guy forward Donald Brashear won a lot of fights during his 17-season National Hockey League career.
Wednesday night, Brashear struck another victorious blow – landing a $500,000 deal for his fledgling Brash87 low-cost hockey stick company with the denizens of CBC’s popular “Dragons’ Den,” Canada’s version of CNBC’s “Shark Tank.”
The former NHL enforcer who let his fists do the talking to the tune of 2,634 career penalty minutes persuaded three Dragons – Jim Treliving, Michael Wekerle, and ManjitMinhas – to do a deal in which they provide $500,000 to help him boost the inventory of his China-manufactured sticks in return for a 40 percent economic interest and 50 percent voting interest in Brash87.
“I’m still working on them trying to close that deal,” Brashear told me Wednesday night. “Bottom line, if you’re starting a business and you have people that know the most and have a lot of money and want to invest in your company, it’s a good sign. I hope it gives a push, marketing-wise.”
Treliving, chairman and owner of Boston Pizza International, Inc., has hockey connections. He’s director of the Hockey Canada Foundation. His son, Brad Treliving, is general manager of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
Brashear went on the show in search of funding and partners for the company he founded after he was appalled by the prospect of paying $300 for a twig after he retired from the NHL six years ago.
Ex-NHL enforcer Donald Brashear, left, with partner Jibin Joseph show off Brash87 hockey sticks to the cast of CBC’s “Dragons’ Den.”
He was a kept man hockey equipment-wise during his career with the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers and never realized how much money hockey parents and beer league players shelled out for sticks.
So he started Brash87, which sells Brashear-designed, professional-caliber, carbon fiber sticks at a price that won’t send hockey parents and recreational adult players into sticker shock.
The sticks range between $129 (CAN) and $179 (CAN), roughly between $94 and $130 in U.S. currency. Brashear says his mostly mail order business is booming, perhaps faster than he anticipated.
Donald Brashear, left, played for five NHL teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers (Photo/Bruce Bennett/Getty Images via Philadelphia Flyers).
“At first when I started, I was going so fast that I didn’t have enough inventory,” he told me. “With more inventory, I can get more sticks at a lower price, which will be even better for me. The problem was getting investment cash to get the larger inventory.”
He currently has an inventory of 3,000 sticks. He envisions growing that to 10,000 to 20,000 sticks so he can begin selling them in big stores. After surviving the “Dragons’ Den,” he may get his wish.
