TheColorOfHockey

~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color

TheColorOfHockey

Monthly Archives: March 2018

Spencer Foo makes NHL debut with Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Spencer Foo

What better way for right wing Spencer Foo to make his National Hockey League debut with the Calgary Flames than to play in the Battle of Alberta against the rival Edmonton Oilers Saturday night.

The Flames recalled Foo from the Stockton Heat, Calgary’s American Hockey League farm team, Wednesday in time for the Edmonton native to face the team he watched growing up.

Spencer Foo is excited about being recalled to the Calgary Flames from the AHL Stockton Heat where he was third on the team in scoring (Photo/Jack Lima).

“It’s going to be a cool night for me,” Foo told reporters. “Obviously, I have a lot of family and friends coming down from Edmonton, so it’s going to be a fun one.

“I grew up watching the Battle of Alberta all the time, so it’s just going to be special to finally be able to be part of it.”

Foo, 23, signed with Calgary after being one of the summer’s most sought-after free agents. He decided to go pro after his junior year at NCAA Division I Union College, where he tallied 26 goals and 36 assists in 38 games in 2016-17.

The Flames, Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers were among the teams that sought Foo’s services with Calgary winning out in the end.

“Calgary presented itself with a great opportunity & (it’s) also a team that’s right on the verge of winning,” Foo tweeted after he committed to the Flames in June.

Spencer Foo scored 20 goals for AHL Stockton after a slow start. He’ll make his NHL debut with the Calgary Flames Saturday night (Photo/Jack Lima).

Foo didn’t make the Flames roster out of training camp. Instead, he was sent to Stockton, California, where he was third on the team before his recall with 20 goals and 17 assists in 59 regular season games.

He scored goals in bunches in the AHL after netting only one goal in his first 19 minor league games.

“I think I was just giving other players a little too much respect out there and I wasn’t fully playing my game,” he told reporters. “But once I was able to get that out of my head and just started playing really hard and being hard to play against, I think that’s kind of when it all turned around for me.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

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U.S. Olympian Jordan Greenway makes NHL debut with Minnesota Wild

28 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 Winter Olympics, Jordan Greenway, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators

Jordan Greenway didn’t register a point Tuesday night, but the massive forward still managed to score a hat trick.

Making his National Hockey League debut with the Minnesota Wild against the Nashville Predators in Music City, Greenway skated for his third team on three different hockey levels in a six-week span.

He ended his collegiate career Saturday when Boston University lost to the University of Michigan 6-3 in the Northeast Regional final of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament.

Jordan Greenway, Matt Cullen, Charlie Coyle and Bruce Boudreau on Greenway’s debut, facing Nashville and more. pic.twitter.com/k5lhS9O3lP

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 27, 2018

Last month, Greenway represented the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, becoming the first African-American to play hockey for the U.S. in the Winter Games.

He donned a Wild jersey after he signed a three-year entry level contract Monday. The Wild took the 6-foot-6, 226-pound Greenway in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft with the 50th overall pick.

“It’s been a quick turnaround, for sure,” the Canton, N.Y., native told reporters. “But it’s all something I’ve wanted to do. It’s something I love doing, and I’m just excited to get everything started, excited to help the team out however I can.”

The newest member of the @mnwild Jordan Greenway joins @FSNGorg after one period of play pic.twitter.com/XIvw9M90Ew

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) March 28, 2018

Greenway logged 10:01 minutes of ice time in Minnesota’s 2-1 overtime loss to Nashville, including 50 seconds of power play time and 12 seconds on the penalty kill. He didn’t mange a shot on goal.

He got a taste of the difference between college hockey and the NHL courtesy of a first-period hit from rugged Predators left wing Scott Hartnell.

Keep your head up out there, rook! 😉 A nice welcome to the NHL for Jordan Greenway from #Preds forward Scott Hartnell pic.twitter.com/nLTIN9j9FY

— FOX Sports Tennessee (@PredsOnFSTN) March 28, 2018

Greenway, 21, finished his three years at BU with 28 goals and 64 assists in 112 games. He had 13 goals and 22 assists in 36 games in 2017-18.

In international competition, Greenway scored one goal in five Winter Olympics games; tallied 3 goals and 5 assists on the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2016-17 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal; and notched a goal and 6 assists at the 2014-15 IIHF Under-18 World Junior Championship to help power the U.S. to gold in that tournament.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

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Players of color compete in the other March Madness – the Frozen Four championship

24 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Boston University, C.J. Suess, Christian Lampasso, Erik Foley, Frozen Four, Jordan Greenway, Justin Wade, Minnesota State University, Providence College, The Ohio State University, University of Notre Dame, Winnipeg Jets

March Madness on ice is in full swing and the road to the Frozen Four features several players of color on teams vying to get to the championship game in St. Paul, Minnesota, next month.

The Ohio State University forward Dakota Joshua was the Buckeyes’ fourth-leading scorer in 2017-18, notching 15 goals and 10 assists in 33 games. A 2014 Toronto Maple Leafs fifth-round draft pick, the junior from Dearborn, Michigan,has a goal in the NCAA championship tourney.

Ohio State University forward Dakota Joshua hopes to lead the Buckeyes to an NCAA Frozen Four title (Photo/The Ohio State University Athletics).

Joshua has a chance to score more as Ohio State faces the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday, April 5, at the Xel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Buckeyes senior forward Christian Lampasso was the Buckeyes’ sixth-leading goal-scorer with 10 to go along with 3 assists in 35 games in the regular season. The 23-year-old from Amherst, New York’s Twitter handle is @formerlydreadsy, nod to his Haitian heritage and the dreadlocks he used to wear under his hockey helmet.

Ohio State University forward Christian Lampasso shed his dreadlocks but hasn’t lost his scoring touch for the Buckeyes (Photo/The Ohio State University Athletics).

Defenseman Justin Wade helped secure the blue line for the  University of Notre Dame in 2017-18. Wade, a 23-year-old senior from Aurora, Illinois, was fourth on the team in blocked shots last season with 42. He also led the Fighting Irish in penalty minutes with 54 in 33 games.

The Fighting Irish play Michigan on Thursday.

University of Notre Dame defenseman Justin Wade and the Fighting Irish are back in a familiar spot – the NCAA playoffs.

After failing to win gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Jordan Greenway rejoined Boston University’s team hoping to win a Frozen Four championship trophy to go with BU’s 2017-18 Hockey East title.

But his quest ended when the Terriers lost to the University of Michigan Wolverines 6-3 in the Northeastern Final on March 24.

The 6-foot-5 junior forward from Canton, N.Y., had 12 goals and 21 assists in 34 regular season games for the Terriers. Greenway,  a 2015 Minnesota Wild second-round draft pick and the first African-American player on a U.S. Olympic hockey team, notched a goal in five games in PyeongChang.

Embed from Getty Images

Greenway didn’t make it to the Xel Energy Center with the Terriers, but he made it with the Wild after he signed a three-year entry level contract with the team after BU was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.

Forward Erik Foley was Providence College’s leading scorer in the 2017-18 season with 16 goals and 19 assists in 36 regular season games.

Embed from Getty Images

Foley, a 2015 Winnipeg Jets third-round draft pick, is joined on the Friars by forward Vimal Sukumaran. A sophomore from Montreal, Sukumaran  was ninth on the team with 10 goals and 8 assists in 38 regular season games in 2017-18.

The hockey season ended for Foley and Sukumaran when the Friars lost to Notre Dame 2-1 in the NCAA quarterfinals on March 24.

Embed from Getty Images

His name changed but his game remained the same. Minnesota State University senior forward C.J. Suess, changed his last name from Franklin and took his mother’s maiden name to honor her.

Despite the new name on the back of his jersey,  he remained the same hard-nosed, high-scoring  player for the Mavericks.

Mavericks' C.J. Suess named WCHA Player of the Year, first time for an Minnesota State player.https://t.co/K6zsBSKHkP pic.twitter.com/rl5sZC3Yhk

— Mankato Free Press (@Mankatonews) March 15, 2018

The 23-year-old Forest Lake, Minnesota, led the team with 22 goals and 21 assists in 40 games in 2017-18. His 22 goals tied him for twelfth among NCAA Division I hockey players.

Suess, a Winnipeg Jets 2014 fifth-round draft pick, also led by example. He was the Mavericks’ team captain for last two seasons.

His season ended on March 23 when the Mavericks lost to rival University of Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 in overtime in a first-round contest.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. Download the Color of Hockey podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

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Larry Kwong, the NHL’s first player of color, passes away at 94

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Brad Kwong, Dubuque Fighting Saints, Larry Kwong, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, United States Hockey League, Willie O'Ree

Larry Kwong made hockey history in a minute.

In one game, one shift, one minute on the ice with the New York Rangers on March 13, 1948, Kwong became the first person of color, the first player of Asian heritage, to skate in the National Hockey League.

That game was the sum of Kwong’s NHL career, but he left a lasting legacy on the game as seen by the number of minorities in hockey – on the ice, in the owner’s suite, behind the bench, and behind the mic – today.

Larry Kwong, center, only played one minute in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers but he helped pave the way for other players of color (Photo/Courtesy Chad Soon).

Kwong passed away on March 15 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the age of 94, two days after the 70th anniversary of his NHL debut.

“The man was just the biggest gentleman you’ll ever meet, so humble but so accomplished from the standpoint of hockey,” said Brad Kwong, no relation, a managing partner of the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League.

With his 60-second shift, Larry Kwong “created a shift in perception for minority people in Canada, and he had an impact in the (United) States as well,” said Chad Soon, a family friend who has campaigned for greater recognition for the high-scoring forward who was nicknamed “King Kwong” and the “China Clipper.”

1st NHL player of colour, Larry Kwong, dies at 94 https://t.co/Wobs0MbHq7 pic.twitter.com/s9Cq95TC31

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) March 19, 2018

“Born in Canada but not being considered Canadian, growing up in a country that had officially racist laws that prevented Chinese people from coming, that prevented Chinese-Canadians from voting, to achieve the Canadian dream coming from those humble beginnings is something,” Soon told me. “Society may not have been ready for him given that he was given only that one minute, but he opened the door and moved society forward.”

Kwong was born in Vernon, British Columbia in 1923, the 14th of 15 children. The son of a grocery store owner, he was lured to hockey by Foster Hewitt’s play-by-play accounts of games on “Hockey Night in Canada” radio broadcasts.

He begged his parents for a pair of skates and eventually got a $19 pair of oversized CCM’s.

At 5-foot-6, Kwong developed into a speedy skater and a shifty center. He joined the Trail Smoke Eaters in 1941-42 after a successful midget hockey career. During World War II, he joined the Canadian army and  mesmerized troops with his hockey skills.

His play also caught the attention of the Rangers. The team offered him a tryout in 1946. The audition earned Kwong a spot on the New York Rovers, the Rangers’ farm team in the old Eastern Hockey League.

Kwong became a scoring threat and a Rovers fan favorite, tallying 52 goals and 71 assists in 112 games.

His minor league performance, and a rash of injures on the Rangers, prompted the a promotion to the parent club. Wearing Rangers red, white and blue, Kwong faced the Montreal Canadiens on March 13, 1948.

Kwong sat through the first two periods, waiting Rangers Head Coach Frank Boucher to put him in the game. He got his chance near the end of the third period with the game tied at two.

“They got me out there and I did the best I could,” Kwong told me in 2015 for an article in “Legends,” the official program guide for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kwong was one minute and done for the game and the NHL. He never asked the Rangers why he didn’t get a longer look.

“Oh, I was disappointed that I didn’t play more. I just let it be,” he told me in 2015. “I always thought the coach knew what he was doing. Maybe he had orders from the top brass. I don’t know.”

Larry Kwong isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but a jersey he wore when he played for the Nanaimo Clippers in 1942-43 is in the hockey shrine (Photo/Courtesy Chad Soon).

Brad Kwong, whose family knew Larry Kwong, figures that the late player never asked why because he seldom dwelled on the negative.

“He was a very positive person, very optimistic,” Brad Kwong said. “Later in life, he lost both legs to poor circulation. Even then, he’d be visiting my parents house, laughing joking and everything – a man without two legs, but always optimistic. I think that was a part of his nature, growing up the way he did, a family with 15 kids, fighting for what he had, but just being optimistic and thankful for what he had, what he was able to do.”

Larry Kwong quit the Rangers after the 1947-48 season and joined the Valleyfield Braves of the Quebec Senior Hockey League.

He notched 164 goals and 220 assists in 347 QSHL regular season games from 1948-49 to 1952-53 and was named the league’s most valuable player in 1951.

Kwong tallied another 51 goals and 61 assists in 147 games with the Braves from from 1953-54 to 1955-56 when the team was in the Quebec Hockey League.

Kwong ended his North American playing career in 1956-57, a season before forward Willie O’Ree became the NHL’s first black player when he joined the Boston Bruins.

Our #NYR family recently lost two former Blueshirts. We send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of Greg Polis and Larry Kwong. pic.twitter.com/5i5TnjLEOy

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 20, 2018

Kwong left the game in 1960-61 after playing for the Nottingham Panthers in England and HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland.  He also coached in Switzerland for Ambri-Piotta and HC Lugano.

While O’Ree has been hailed as the “Jackie Robinson” of hockey, Soon and others feel that Kwong hasn’t been given sufficient due for his accomplishments in the game.

One of Kwong’s jerseys is on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Brad Kwong believes that “King Kwong” should be in the hockey shrine in Toronto.

Former Mighty Ducks of Anaheim star forward Paul Karyia, a Canadian of Japanese descent, is currently the only player of Asian heritage in the Hall, inducted in November 2017.

“I look at what the Hockey Hall of Fame stands for and what it tries to honor and I think (Larry Kwong) has accomplished something that very few have,”  Brad Kwong told me.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. Download the Color of Hockey podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

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Minority hockey program helps Featherstone reach the skies in the U.S. Marine Corps

18 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Annapolis, Fort Dupont Ice Rink, Neal Henderson, Toronto Maple Leafs, United States Naval Academy, Washington Capitals

Before he flew in U.S. Marine Corps fighter jets, Ralph Featherstone took flight inside a run-down ice skating rink on Ely Place Southeast in Washington, D.C.

Before he became a ramrod straight lieutenant colonel, Featherstone was a Fort Dupont Cannon, an African-American teenager in the 1990s learning how to play hockey in the oldest minority youth hockey program in North America.

His sense of duty and love of hockey converged when he attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and joined the school’s hockey club.

U.S. Marine Corps Let. Col. Ralph Featherstone.

Like a plebe, he rose through the ranks, advancing from a seldom-used second-unit penalty kill specialist on the team to become the first African-American team captain in Navy hockey club history.

“The biggest attribute that I learned at Fort Dupont was persistence,” Featherstone told me. “That’s been one of the main things in my life, in my career, my personal life. Being  persistent will make up for a load of shortcomings.”

The academy and the National Hockey League honored Featherstone last month – Black History Month – with a moving video scoreboard salute between periods of the Washington Capitals–Toronto Maple Leafs game played outdside at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

He also participated in a ceremonial puck drop last month when the Capitals paid tribute to the Fort Dupont Cannons, Founder/Coach Neal Henderson and his staff, before a game against the Buffalo Sabres at Washington’s Capital One Arena.

“I got a standing O from the Navy/Marine Corps crowd, which was awesome,” Featherstone said of the outdoor game salute. “Hockey has done me right.”

So has the Marine Corps. Featherstone is a desk officer for the FB-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program Office in suburban Washington. This summer, he’ll move to San Diego and Marine Corps Air Station Mirimar to become the commanding officer of the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225,  also known as the Vikings, next year.

For Featherstone, 40, it all goes back to hockey and the lessons taught by tough-love Coach Neal inside the Fort Dupont Ice Arena on Ely Place Southeast.

“He did it by making you overcome obstacles, not handing out things, not allowing you to feel that you’re entitled to play, entitled to ice time,” Featherstone said of Henderson. “Everything is based on your performance and you earning those things. You realize after hard work, after the effort and dedication, that you’ll achieve those things that you want. Those are some of the early life lessons in the game of hockey that are analogous to things that occur throughout life.”

Honored to have Neal Henderson and the coaches from Fort Dupont Ice Arena to drop the ceremonial first puck at our Black History in Hockey night. #HockeyIsForEveryone #ALLCAPS @KidsOnIce pic.twitter.com/B3tLiIxv2q

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 25, 2018

A lesson learned quickly when Featherstone visited Annapolis at the end of his junior in high school junior to observe what freshman life at the Naval Academy was like.

“I did a one-week camp there and on the last day, they treat you like a plebe, like a freshman,” Featherstone recalled. “I was looking around, these kids are crying from the intensity of getting turned up. And I was, like, ‘This is nothing. Come out to Fort Dupont, I’ll show you what getting yelled at feels like. This is easy.'”

While Featherstone loved his four years at Annapolis, his tenure there also had its challenges. A top player at Fort Dupont, he was anything but on the Midshipmen hockey club.

That led him to question his talent and to feel somewhat isolated as the only black player on the team and in the Eastern College Hockey Association at the time.

“I honestly questioned whether or not I was good at the sport, I questioned whether I loved hockey or loved being at Fort Dupont with my friends,” he recalled. “I was very much down on myself and wondering, ‘Hey I don’t know if this is really for me at this level.'”

From Anacostia to Annapolis. Ralph Featherstone, an alum of Washington, D.C.,’s Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, was the first African-American to captain the U.S. Naval Academy’s ice hockey club (Photo/Courtesy Ralph Featherstone).

Those doubts were gone by his senior year when he became the Midshipmen’s starting center and his teammates voted to give him the captain’s “C,” the symbol of being the squad’s undisputed leader.

“It was awesome, it was probably one of the biggest accomplishments in my life up to that point,” Featherstone recalled. “Making that transition, that journey from penalty kill-2 to team captain was something that I was really proud of.”

He had the respect of his teammates, but not from some of the opponents that he faced. Featherstone recalled the sting of being called a racial slur on the ice during one game in the 1997-98 season. He reached back to lessons ingrained at Fort Dupont and at home.

A call to duty and a love of hockey combined for Ralph Featherstone at the U.S. Naval Academy (Photo/Courtesy of Ralph Featherstone).

“In playing for Coach Neal, you can’t allow that to bother you,” Featherstone said. “And having a frank discussion with my dad, he was, like, ‘You’re in a different realm. You’re in a world that if that bothers you, maybe you shouldn’t play, maybe you shouldn’t be in that environment.”

“With dad and Coach Neal taking that stance, I kind of saw that as a challenge to rise above that type of thing, when you know someone is doing it only to manipulate you and get you off your game,”  Featherstone added.

Featherstone also applied lessons learned at Dupont  to help get him through aviation training in Pensacola, Florida.

He suffered from air sickness, not an unusual malady for new aviators. But his lasted 15 months, an unusually long and potentially career-crippling amount of time.

“I would puke two to three times a week when I would go fly – it was like a Pavlovian response of getting in an aircraft,” he recalled. “Within 15 minutes I’m getting queasy and about another 10 minutes later, I’m vomiting and trying to hang on.”

Ralph Featherstone’s U.S. Naval Academy hockey teammates voted him team captain in his senior year (Photo/Courtesy of Ralph Featherstone).

Determined to make it through flight training, Featherstone remembered what Coach Neal and his dad taught him about dealing with racially uncomfortable situations.

“‘Hey, if you can’t deal with the discomfort, someone calling you a name, you have to reconcile for yourself that this is not going to bother you or maybe you need to think about something else to do,'” Featherstone said. “Same thing with the flying. ‘Okay, you need to reconcile that you’re probably going to get sick and either you’re going to gut this out and still perform or maybe you need to go in there and tell them that this is not for you,’ which was not an option for me.”

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Ralph Featherstone is flying high after overcoming a severe bout of air sickness in aviation training, applying lessons learned playing hockey for the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club (Photo/Courtesy Ralph Featherstone).

Today, jets are a major part of the lieutenant colonel’s life. So if Fort Dupont. Featherstone is a volunteer coach with the Cannons and his  9-year-old son, also named Ralph, plays for the team.

“It’s great having him out there – we can tell Coach Neal stories,” Featherstone said. “Coach’s nuances and his catch phrases haven’t changed in 40 years.”

For all that Fort Dupont has done for Featherstone, he said he didn’t realize his impact on the program until Duante Abercrombie, another Cannons alum, posted a thank you tribute to him on Facebook a few years ago after meeting him.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy where he played ice hockey, Ralph Featherstone went into the U.S. Marine Corps. A lieutenant colonel, he’ll command an air squadron next year (Photo/Courtesy Ralph Featherstone).

“Ralph made my dreams tangible. I knew zero about his journey, but what I did know was that he looked like me and played where I played and hockey took him places, places other than Ely Place Southeast,” said Abercrombie, 31, who played professional hockey in the U.S. and New Zealand and is currently seeking collegiate hockey coaching opportunities.

“I still remember sitting in that old meeting room upstairs (at Fort Dupont) when Ralph presented Coach Neal with his college jersey,” Abercrombie added. “I don’t remember what was said in his speech, but that moment single-handedly set me on the path I’m still on today.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. Download the Color of Hockey podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sarah Nurse’s jersey, Brigette Lacquette’s stick get call from Hockey Hall of Fame

08 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 Winter Olympics, Brigette Lacquette, Calgary Inferno, Canadian Women's Hockey League, National Women's Hockey League, Sarah Nurse, University of Wisconsin

Canadian women’s Olympic team hockey players Sarah Nurse and Brigette Lacquette aren’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame – but items they used at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang are.

The Hall collected forward Nurse’s white Team Canada jersey and one of defenseman Lacquette’s Bauer sticks shortly after the Winter Games’ conclusion on Feb. 25. Both artifacts are now at the Hockey museum in Toronto.

“It’s an honor to have represented Canada on the Olympic stage and have a piece of my journey in the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Nurse told me recently. “I hope to inspire young girls of color to break barriers and play hockey, and never give up on whatever dreams they may have.”

The jersey that Canadian forward Sarah Nurse wore and the stick that defender Brigette Lacquette used at the 2018 Winter Olympics are in the Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo/Phil Pritchard/HHoF)

The items from the Silver Medal-winning Canadian players join the puck that Korean unified women’s Olympic hockey team forward Randi Griffin used to score Korea’s first-ever Olympic ice hockey goal.

Sarah Nurse’s Team Canada jersey and Brigette Lacquette’s stick have a home in the Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo/Phil Pritchard/HHoF).

The presence of Nurse’s jersey and Lacquette’s stick in the Hall are significant. Nurse is believed to be the first black woman to play for Team Canada in the Winter Olympics. Lacquette is the first First Nation woman to skate on a Canadian women’s Olympic squad. She is the daughter of a Cote First Nation mother and a Metis father.

Nurse, a former University of Wisconsin star and a 2016 second round draft pick of the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League, scored a goal in five games in PyeongChang.

Embed from Getty Images

She is the cousin of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and University of Connecticut women’s basketball point guard and 2016 Canadian Olympic hoopster Kia Nurse.

Lacquette, a defender for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and a former University of Minnesota-Duluth standout, recorded an assist in the five Winter Olympics contests and had a plus-minus rating of plus-3.

Embed from Getty Images

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. Download the Color of Hockey podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

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Call for Willie O’Ree’s entry into Hockey Hall of Fame reaches U.S. Congress

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Congressional Hockey Caucus, Hockey Hall of Fame, Rep. Mike Quigley, Willie O'Ree

The call for Willie O’Ree’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame reached the U.S. Congress Tuesday.

Rep. Michael Quigley, a Democrat from Chicago, took to the floor of the House of Representatives and said that “there are few players worthier to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and it is long overdue that Willie be added to that list.”

Quigley referred to O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, as “the ‘Jackie Robinson’ of hockey” who overcame “racial slurs…and blindness in his right eye” to become “a trusted champion for diversity, a proponent of inclusion, and an inspiration for so many young players both on and off the ice.”

“Each February we celebrate Black History Month as well as ‘Hockey is for Everyone Month,‘ and no one embodies both of  those tributes as profoundly as living legend Willie O’Ree,” Quigley said on the House floor. “I thank him for his continued effort to increase access for all people of all backgrounds to get out on the ice and play the greatest game” in the world.

Quigley, a co-chair of the bipartisan  Congressional Hockey Caucus, has seen O’Ree’s impact up close. The congressman has watched O’Ree school kids hockey and life skills during visits to programs like Chicago’s Hockey on Your Block and Washington, D.C.’s, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, the nation’s oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program.

His House speech adds to the effort to persuade member’s the Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee to induct O’Ree, who became the NHL’s first black player on Jan. 18, 1958 when his Boston Bruins faced the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

Embed from Getty Images

O’Ree, a forward, didn’t have a long NHL career – only 45 games over two seasons with 4 goals and 10 assists.

However, advocates are pushing for O’Ree’s Hall entry in the Builders category, focusing on his contributions as a mentor, role model, and advocate in growing hockey in communities previously overlooked by the sport.

According to the Hall,  the criteria for entry as a Builder is “Coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general.”

O’Ree fits those qualifications, supports say, because he has been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and hockey fans of color.

He has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1998, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

O’Ree is also a revered figure to many of the NHL’s players, who seek him out for guidance and advice.

If admitted to the Hall, O’Ree would join the likes of Scotty Bowman, who won eight Stanley Cups coaching for the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins; Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs;  legendary manager Conn Smythe;  and 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey Coach Herb Brooks.

With the Legend Willie O'Ree !What a gentleman and a wonderful ambassador for our great game , prior to tonight's matchup vs the Ducks on @NBCSWashington pic.twitter.com/7kEYC6YPlg

— Craig Laughlin (@Laughlin18) March 6, 2018

The Hall’s Selection Committee is gearing up its decision-making process for the 2018 induction class.

Committee members have until April 15 to submit names of those who they think should be in the Hall of Fame. Those nominees will be debated and voted on during an Elections Meeting in June. The annual Hall of Fame induction occurs in November.

Individuals can weigh in on who they think should be nominated for the Hall in the Builders, Players and Referees/Linesmen categories through a process called public submissions.

The public submissions deadline is March 15. Here is a link on how the process works and you can make a submission.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play

 

 

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Maame Biney bounces back from Olympics showing to capture a gold medal in Poland

05 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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2018 Winter Olympics, Maame Biney, PyeongChang

2018 Winter Olympics Update – For those who are fretting over U.S. short track speedskater Maame Biney’s disappointing showing in PyeongChang, South Korea, you can stop now.

The 18-year-old phenom from suburban Washington, D.C., the first black woman to make the U.S. Olympic short track speedskating team, won a gold medal in the 500-meter sSaturday at the World Junior Short Track Championships in Tomaszow Mazowieckei, Poland.

Embed from Getty Images

“This is a huge boost from the Olympics since I didn’t do as well as I wanted to,” Biney said. “This means that I’m really ready for the World Cup stage and can continue to get better.”

With a time of 44:305 seconds, the Ghanaian-born Biney became only the third U.S. woman to ever medal at a junior event. Her gold medal Saturday is the first junior gold medal for Team USA since J.R. Celski won the men’s 500m in 2009.

“It feels really good,” Biney said of Saturday’s victory. “I felt like I really deserved it today and I’m really happy. I just raced my race and made sure not to overestimate anyone.”

Embed from Getty Images

Biney’s gold medal will go with a bronze medal that she won at the 2016-17 world junior championships.

She had a disappointing performance at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, finishing fourth in a four-person quarterfinal 500-meter heat with a time of 44.77 seconds.

Maame Biney, front row left, and members of the U.S. Olympic short track speedskating team in PyeongChang (Photo/US Speedskating).

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” a tearful Biney said at the time. “I just have to wait four more year to be able to get back into this big stage. I can’t wait till those four years.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

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Momentum builds for Willie O’Ree Hockey Hall of Fame induction as deadlines loom

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Boston Bruins, Hockey Hall of Fame, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins., Ryan Reaves, Wayne Simmonds, Willie O'Ree

For those who want to see Willie O’Ree in the Hockey Hall of  Fame, it’s time to put our money where our mouths are.

The Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee – the gatekeepers who decide who’s in and who’s not – is ramping up its decision-making process for the Hall Class of 2018.

Willie O’Ree made history when he entered the NHL with the Boston Bruins in 1958.

Selection Committee members have until April 15 to submit names of who they think are Hall-worthy. Those nominees are debated and voted on during an Elections Meeting in June. The annual Hall induction takes place in November.

While the Selection Committee has the most say in this process, there is an outlet for public input.

Its called the public submissions and it allows people to submit who they think are worthy of Hall entry in the Player, Referee/Linesman and Builder categories.

The deadline for public submissions is March 15, so time is of the essence. Here is a link to how the process works and how you can make a submission.

It doesn’t guarantee that O’Ree will be nominated, but it lets Selection Committee members know that there’s heavy of support to let the National Hockey League’s first black player into the the hockey shrine.

From hockey fans to players to hockey analysts, there are plenty of folks out there who want to see O’Ree in the Hall of Fame in the Builder’s category.

Change.org has a petition calling for O’Ree’s Hall induction for his “significant contributions to the game as a pioneer of the sport.”

Thirteen members city government of Fredericton, New Brunswick – O’Ree’s home town in Canada – sent a letter to the Hockey Hall of Fame urging O’Ree’s induction. Fredericton Member of Parliament Matt DeCourcey added his voice with a floor speech last month in the House of Commons.

“A member of the New Brunswick Hall of Fame (and ) the Order of Canada, there remains but one honor to be bestowed this person who left such an indelible mark on this sport,” DeCourcey said.  “Mr. Speaker, for his dedication as a builder, I am sure Frederictonians, New Brunswickers, Canadians and hockey fans around the world share the view that it is past time that Willie O’Ree be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

Embed from Getty Images

Karl Subban – the father of Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban, and Los Angeles Kings defensive prospect Jordan Subban – is sending a submission letter through an O’Ree Hall induction effort launched by Fredericton residents.

“He changed the game and he changed society and he changed minds,” Karl Subban wrote. “He changed hockey, which is now for everyone. Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right.”

Damon Kwame Mason, director of the award-winning “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future” black hockey history documentary, is also pushing for O’Ree’s induction.

So are several major hockey writers and analysts.

No question for me. The work he has done as a Builder over the last 20+ years is incredible. He's still pounding the pavement, flying all over the place at age 82, to share his story and include everyone. https://t.co/gRUvYfd1ZB

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 28, 2018

This is a no brainer. For decades Willie has been one of the leagues biggest ambassadors in growing the game. Long overdue. https://t.co/XkBHMSVKEm

— David Amber (@DavidAmber) February 28, 2018

Speaking of Willie O'Ree, him not being in the Hall of Fame seems like a pretty big miss by everybody involved over there, doesn't it?

— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) February 16, 2018

The criteria for entry in the Hall of Fame as a Builder is “Coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general.”

O’Ree fits this category because he has helped change the face of the game, not just by for becoming the first black man to play in the NHL when he took to the old Montreal Forum ice on Jan. 18, 1958 as a forward for the Boston Bruins – but he’s done since.

He has been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and fans of color. They look at this still-fit 82-year-old man, learn about the racial abuse he suffered in order to make it to the pros, and how he played in the NHL and minor leagues despite being blind in his right eye, and say “if he can do it, so can I.”

O’Ree has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1998, crisscrossing the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

His impact goes beyond getting more kids of color to lace on skates and grab sticks. O’Ree has also been a father figure, sounding board and role model for many of the minority players in the NHL today.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds recently said “Willie is not only a hero to me in hockey, but a hero in life.”

Pittsburgh Penguins tough guy forward Ryan Reaves vowed to have a big game  in honor of O’Ree, who was in the house last month for the Pens-Kings game at PPG Paints Arena.

It was an honor to have you at morning skate, Willie O'Ree!

Coach Sullivan: “Willie is a testament to perseverance. He might have faced more adversity than any of us. I think he’s a great example of dedication. He’s been a great ambassador to the sport.”#HockeyIsForEveryone pic.twitter.com/v1b63RgPD8

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 15, 2018

Not known as a scorer, Reaves had a goal that night.

“Obviously with Willie O’Ree in the house it was pretty special,” Reaves told reporters. “He was a pioneer for players like me and it was nice to get him one.”

Reaves added: “That is somebody you look up to. He was big in the NHL, big in all sports for players like me.”

This years marks the 60th anniversary of Willie O’Ree making hockey history. Will the Hockey Hall of Fame make history this year and let Willie O’Ree in?

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

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