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Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, to be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Willie finally got the call from the Hall.

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, received a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame Tuesday afternoon informing him that he’s a member of the Hall’s 2018 class.

“I was in tears,” O’Ree told me. “I’m walking on air, I can’t believe it. Unbelievable what this day has been, my God. It’s one of the greatest days I’ve experienced.”

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O’Ree, 82, will be formally inducted into the Hall in the Builder category on Nov. 12. The other 2018 inductees are former New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur,Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star Jayna Hefford, and NHLCommissioner Gary Bettman.

O’Ree will become the Hall’s third black member. Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr, who won five Stanley Cup championships, was inducted in 2003. Angela James, a Canadian forward who is regarded as the “Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey,” followed in 2010, the first year the Toronto-based Hall began inducting women.

Whenever people asked O’Ree about his chances of someday getting into the Hall of Fame, he would calmly say “that would be nice” and add “whatever will be will be.”

However, the O’Ree household in San Diego was anything but calm Tuesday. O’Ree, Bryant McBride, a former NHL executive vice president, family members, and others nervously gathered in the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time to wait for the phone to ring.

“There were four or five of us in the kitchen, just looking at each other,” McBride said.

“We were just pacing back and forth,” O’Ree added. “We knew if there was a call, it was going to come in around noon. We had about four hours of pacing back and forth.”

O’Ree made history on Jan. 18, 1958, when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

The right wing from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, only played 45 NHL games over two seasons with the Bruins, tallying 4 goals and 10 assists.

He enjoyed a long and productive minor league career, finishing as the 16th all-time leading scorer in the old Western Hockey League with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games, despite being blind in his right eye.

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But O’Ree became Hall-worthy for his accomplishments off the ice. He has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1996, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

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

So instead of seeking his Hall entry as a player, O’Ree’s supporters launched a drive for his induction in the hockey shrine’s Builder category, focusing on his contributions as a mentor, role model, and advocate in growing hockey in communities previously overlooked by the sport.

A Builder must exhibit “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,” according to Hall rules.

O’Ree fits the criteria because he’s been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and hockey fans of color.

Willie O’Ree has the respect and awe of players across the NHL. From left to right: forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, O’Ree, and former Flyers goalie Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

“This honor is long overdue as Willie has been a tremendous figure in our game both on and off the ice for over 60 years,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs. “We are lucky to have been able to call Willie a Bruin when he made his debut in 1958 and we could not be happier for him to finally receive the recognition he so greatly deserves.”

O’Ree’s Hall admission is a testament to a grassroots movement of NHL players, past and present, elected officials across North America, and thousands of hockey fans who thought it an injustice that he wasn’t inducted years ago.

Brenda and David Sansom, longtime friends of Willie O’Ree, helped launch a public submission drive urging the Hockey Hall of Fame to induct that NHL’s first black player.

David and Brenda Sansom, friends of O’Ree from Fredericton, helped put together a 76-page public submission to the Hall’s Selection Committee. They also collected more than 300 letters, notes, and expressions of support on O’Ree’s behalf.

The Sansoms received letters from Karl Subban, father of Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban,Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subbanand LosAngeles Kings defensive prospect Jordan Subban; San Jose Sharks forwardJoel Ward; former NHLersDanny Grant and Mike Eagles;  Boston Mayor Marty Walsh; NewBrunswick Premier Brian Gallant; and Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien.

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

“Willie O’Ree’s story must not be forgotten,” Karl Subban wrote. “He made it possible to have the NHL dream and to believe they could achieve it. He changed hockey, which is now for everyone. Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right!

NHL players like Ward and Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds publicly pressed for O’Ree’s admission almost every chance they got. Simmonds penned an article in The Players’ Tribune in April, declaring that “Mr. O’Ree should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame…Mr. O’Ree should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday.”

The call to put O’Ree in the Hall also reached Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Hockey Caucus, took to the floor of the House of Representatives in March and called O’Ree “a trusted champion for diversity, a proponent of inclusion, and an inspiration for so many young players both on and off the ice.”

Fredericton Member of Parliament Matt DeCourcey told the chamber in February that “hockey fans around the world share the view that it is past due time that Willie O’Ree be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

O’Ree will get his time, and his due, in November.

“Unbelievable,” O’Ree said.

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

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

01 Thursday Mar 2018

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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.”

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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.

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.

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.

 

 

Hockey honors Willie O’Ree for becoming NHL’s first black player 60 years ago

18 Thursday Jan 2018

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Willie O’Ree remembers the pre-game talk as if it were yesterday.

Boston Bruins Head Coach Milt Schmidt and General Manager Lynn Patrick sat down their rookie forward, a call-up from the Quebec Aces, before his debut against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Forum and told him “Willie O’Ree, we brought you up because we think you can add a spark to the team.”

‘”Don’t worry about anything else,”‘ O’Ree recalled them telling him. ‘”Just go out and play the game, the organization is behind you 100 percent.”‘

O’Ree didn’t realize the gravity of  that January 18, 1958 talk until after the Bruins blanked the Habs 3-0. O’Ree didn’t register a point on the stat sheet that night, but he made a mark in history as the National Hockey League’s first black player.

“I didn’t even know I broke the color barrier until I read it in the newspaper the next day,” O’Ree told me recently.

Hockey honored O’Ree on Wednesday for the 60th anniversary of his feat, a celebration that really began over the weekend in Boston.

But Wednesday was the big day. The Canadiens were in Boston to play the Bruins at TD Garden. Before the game, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh proclaimed January 18 as “Willie O’Ree Day.” The city also announced plans to refurbish a street hockey rink and name it in O’Ree’s honor.

“Willie’s speed, his skill and sheer perseverance earned him a job in a six-team National Hockey League where jobs were, indeed scarce – 60 years ago,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We celebrate not only the NHL games he played but the countless thousands of boys and girls he has inspired since becoming our ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ ambassador in 1998.”

The league pulled out all the stops Wednesday. O’Ree dropped a ceremonial puck before the B’s-Habs game. Players wore Willie O’Ree 60th anniversary patches commemorative patches on their jerseys.

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

The NHL tapped Canadian filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason, director of the award-winning black history documentary “Soul on Ice, Past, Present and Future,” to help produce an O’Ree tribute video.

NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes sat down with O’Ree for a long interview about his history-making moment and  his legacy.

O’Ree didn’t have a long NHL career. He only played 45 games over the 1957-58 and 1960-61 seasons and tallied 4 goals and 10 assists. He played those games carrying a secret: He was legally blind in his right eye, the result of being hit by a puck.

Still, he enjoyed a lengthy minor league career, mainly in the old Western Hockey League where he scored 328 goals and 311 assists with the Los Angeles Blades and San Diego Gulls from 1961-62 to 1973-74.

Several hockey aficionados are hoping that O’Ree gets more propers beyond the 60th anniversary celebration.

Folks from filmmaker Mason to retired NHL player-turned-TV analyst Anson Carter believe O’Ree should be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder’s category for his contributions to the game in mentoring many of the NHL’s minority players and for extending hockey’s reach to communities of color

San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward suggested that the NHL should retire O’Ree’s Number 22 league-wide the same way Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s Number 42 in 1997. Robinson broke MLB’s color barrier when he broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

“I would like to be in the Hall of Fame. I mean, who wouldn’t?” O’Ree told me. “I’d be thrilled and honored to be selected and go into the hall.”

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

P.K. Subban’s dad talks hockey, life and catfish on new Color of Hockey podcast

03 Tuesday Oct 2017

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Karl Subban thought he was done.

The proud papa of three black professional hockey players thought he was finished writing his first book, “How We Did It, The Subban Family Plan For Success In Hockey, School And Life.”

Then The Trade happened.

Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban.

The Montreal Canadiens swapped All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators straight-up for All-Star defenseman Shea Weber.

The move shocked the hockey world, helped guide the Predators to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance, and sent Karl Subban scrambling to his computer to write another chapter for his book.

“Yeah, I had to write it,” Karl told me. “It was unbelievable. It was an unbelievable run to the Stanley Cup Final. I’ve never been through that before. It took me a long time to believe that we were there.”

The elder Subban  talks about his book, The Trade, the Predators’ Stanley Cup run, racism, and what it’s like raising three very talented hockey players in the first episode of the Color of Hockey podcast.

Our new podcast, like this blog, will tell the story of the history and growing impact of people of color in ice hockey at all levels and all aspects of the game – on the ice, off the ice, behind the bench, in the broadcast booth, and in the front office, wherever.

And what better lead-off guest than Karl, father of Pernell Karl (P.K.);  Malcolm, a goaltender and Boston Bruins 2012 first round draft pick who was waived by the B’s this week and claimed by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights; and Jordan, a 2013 Vancouver Canucks fourth-round draft pick who’s a defenseman for the Utica Comets, the Canucks’ American Hockey League franchise in Upstate New York.

P.K. tallied 10 goals and 30 assists in 66 games in his first season in Nashville. He had 2 goals and 10 assists in 22 playoff games.

Malcolm compiled an 11-14-5 record in 32 games for the Providence Bruins and posted a 2.41 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. He was winless in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.

Jordan notched 16 goals and 20 assists in 65 regular season games last season for Utica. He had 2 goals and an assist in four AHL playoff contests.

Providence Bruins goaltender Malcolm Subban looks to work his way to the NHL (Photo/Alan Sullivan).

True to its title, “How We Did It” gives insight to how Karl and Maria Subban guided their boys through various levels of hockey – from lacing on their first pair of skates skates to hearing their names called at National Hockey League drafts.

“The African proverb, I use it in the book, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,'” Karl told me. “It also takes a village to raise an NHLer…to grow their potential. Maria and I can’t stand there and say ‘Look at us, we did it all by ourselves.'”

At 5-foot-9, defenseman Jordan Subban is out to prove that he belongs with big brother P.K. in the NHL (Photo/Lindsay A. Mogul/Utica Comets).

But the book is also deals with immigration – Karl’s family moved to Canada from Jamaica and Maria’s from Montserrat – education, and the ugly realities of racism, an issue that P.K. first confronted when he was an 8 year old playing minor hockey in Toronto.

It’s a lesson that Karl, a semi-retired Toronto public school principal, was sadden that his son learned so early.

“He came out of the dressing room crying. He said a boy on the ice called him the N-word,” Karl writes in the book. “We said there was no need to cry because it was only a word. We probably said something about ‘sticks and stones.’ There weren’t too many kids playing who looked like P.K., but now someone had communicated it to him in a way he didn’t like.”

He’s endured racist taunts and attitudes as a pro, most notably during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs when so-called Bruins unleashed a torrent of hateful emails and social media posts after he scored two goals, including the double-overtime winner.

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When confronted with racist ugliness, Karl says P.K. follows a bit of advice that he gave him: Don’t let them win.

“I’ve told P.K. it’s vital to change the channel, because if you ruminate over it, you can’t free yourself from it,” the elder Subban writes. “It does take practice, though – and P.K. has had a lot of practice.”

Karl had to change the channel when the Canadiens traded P.K.. Montreal was Karl’s team ever since he was a boy growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, watching the Canadiens’ French broadcast on TV, and dreaming of being Habs goaltender Ken Dryden.

As an adult, he thought there was nothing like seeing a game in hockey-mad Montreal. Then came Nashville.

“I didn’t think there was anything better until I got to Nashville, and then I said ‘Wow!'” he told me. “It’s so different and a great experience. It’s the music there, the environment. After the game, the honky tonks, the bars, the food, I love country music. And then we went on that (Stanley Cup) run, and the city, which is alive anyway 24/7, it was taken to another level.”

But Karl still can’t quite get used to what’s becoming a tradition in Nashville: fans tossing catfish onto the Bridgestone Arena ice.

“I just want to eat those catfish,” he told me. “There’s a restaurant where I go, they have this catfish thing and I love it. Like, I’m saying ‘please don’t throw them on the ice. Can you just give them to that restaurant I go to and have them prepare it the way they prepare it there.”

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

 

More than a dozen players of color are eligible for Vegas in NHL expansion draft

19 Monday Jun 2017

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Some of the National Hockey League’s players of color are feeling a draft.

At least 17 minority players are among the players left unprotected by the NHL’s 30 teams for Wednesday’s Expansion Draft to help form the inaugural roster for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The players of color made available – a nicer phrase than “unprotected” – include a likely future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee,  three multiple Stanley Cup winners, three Olympians, and a few minor league prospects.

Here’s a summary of the players available:

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Emerson Etem, left wing. The 29th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Etem has bounced from the Ducks to the New York Rangers to the Vancouver Canucks and back to the Ducks. And he’s boomeranged between Anaheim and its American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego.

He only appeared in three games for the Ducks in 2016-17 and was held scoreless. He does have 22 goals and 24 assists in 173 NHL regular season games and 6 goals and 2 assists in 23 playoff games.

BOSTON BRUINS

Malcolm Subban, a Boston Bruins’ 2012 first-round pick. Could he be Vegas-bound?

Malcolm Subban, goaltender. Subban was 24th player picked in the 2012 NHL Draft but has been unable to secure a spot on a Bruins roster that features Tuuka Rask between the pipes. Rask won the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14 as the NHL’s best goaltender.

The younger brother of Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, Malcolm Subban appeared in 32 games last season for the Providence Bruins, Boston’s AHL farm team. His stats: 11 wins, 14 losses, a 2.41 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. He had 2 losses in the AHL playoffs and sported a 2.12 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Johnny Oduya, defense. Oduya was a member of the 2013 and 2015 Chicago Stanley Cup teams and the Swedish team that won the Silver Medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He had 2 goals and 7 assists in 52 regular season games for the Blackhawks last season. He has 37 goals and 145 assists in 798 career regular season contests and 6 goals and 22 assists in 106 career playoff games.

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Jordin Tootoo, right wing. The diminutive dynamo of Inuit heritage was limited to 2 goals and 1 assist in 50 regular season games in 2016-17. He has 65 goals and 96 assists in 723 games with Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, and the New Jersey Devils.

DALLAS STARS

Forward Gemel Smith, the Dallas Stars’ 2012 fourth-round pick..

Gemel Smith, center. The Stars took the 23-year-old in the fourth round with the 104th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft. He hasn’t seen much time in Big D.  He scored 3 goals and 3 assists in 17 regular season games for Dallas in 2016-17.

His younger brother, forward Giavani Smith, was taken by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round with the 46th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

EDMONTON OILERS

Jujhar Khaira, center. Khaira was one of the feel-good stories of the 2016-17 season when he scored his first NHL goal –  a source of pride for North America’s South Asian community. The Oilers took Khaira in the third round with the 63rd overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft. His one goal and 2 assists were his only points in 10 games for the Oilers in 2016-17.

LOS ANGELES KINGS 

Jarome Iginla, right wing.  Iginla, 39, is one of hockey’s most-decorated players. He’s a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner, and a recipient of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer in 2002 and 2004 and the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer in 2002. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award – the most valuable player award voted by the players – in 2002.

Iginla, a sure-fire Hall of Famer when he retires, had 14 goals and 13 assists in 80 games for the Kings in 2016-17.

Jordan Nolan, center. A proud member of the Ojibwe Nation, Nolan played for the Kings’ Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and 2014. Nolan, the son of former Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Ted Nolan, appeared in only 46 games for the Kings last season and tallied 4 goals and 4 assists.

MINNESOTA WILD

Matt Dumba, defense.  Of Filipino heritage, Dumba posted a career-best 11 goals and 23 assists in 76 games. His plus/minus – an indicator of defensive responsibility – improved from plus-1 in 2015-16 to plus-15 in 2016-17.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Al Montoya, goaltender, Montreal Canadiens

Al Montoya, goaltender. The well-traveled Cuban-American goaltender could be on the move again. A 2004 first-round of the Rangers,  Montoya has strapped on the pads for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers,  Phoenix Coyotes, and Winnipeg Jets before he seemingly settled in as Carey Price’s backup in Montreal.

Montoya appeared in 19 games for the Habs, posted an 8-6-4 record with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Devante Smith-Pelly, right wing. Devo is coming off a down season in New Jersey, his third team since the Ducks chose him with in the second round with the 42nd overall pick in the 2010 draft. He scored only 4 goals and 5 assists in 50 games.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Christopher Gibson, goaltender. The black Finn didn’t play a minute in Brooklyn in 2016-17 and had a short season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Isles’ AHL team. There, he appeared in seven games and won 6. He had a 2.52 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

Gibson played in four NHL games in 2015-16, posted a 1-1-1 record with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage.

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PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Philadelphia Flyers LW Pierre Edouard Bellemare

Pierre-Edourard Bellemare, left wing. The French player probably enjoyed his most memorable season in 2016-17. It started with the World Cup of Hockey, where the fourth-line Flyers player became a key contributor for Team Europe and ended with him playing before his countrymen at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Paris.

In between, Bellemare had a solid enough year for the Flyers that the team re-signed him to a two-year deal at $1.45 million per year and made him an assistant captain. The 32-year-old checking line forward scored 4 goals and 4 assists in 82 regular season games. He has 17 goals and 17 assists in 237 career NHL games.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Trevor Daley, defense. Daley is experiencing the cruel business side of hockey. Win a Stanley Cup one week, get exposed to the expansion draft the next.  The 33-year-old offensively-talented and defensively-responsible player began his NHL career with the Dallas Stars in 2003-04. Daley reached the 20-point mark seven times during his tenure with Dallas.

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He had 5 goals and 15 assists in 56 games for the Penguins in 2016-17 and tallied 1 goal and 4 assists in 21 playoff games that ended with him winning a second Stanley Cup. Daley 78 goals and 200 assists in 894 career NHL regular season games.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Joel Ward, right wing.  Injuries in 2016-17 hampered the 36-year-old wing who earned a reputation as a clutch playoff performer during his NHL career. He scored 10 goals and 19 assists in 78 regular season games and 1 goal and 3 assists in six playoff games.

He’s tallied 22 goals and 30 assists in 83 playoff games for San Jose, Nashville, and the Washington Capitals.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

J.T. Brown, right wing. A tough player who isn’t afraid to speak his mind on social issues, Brown had 3 goals and 3 assists for the Lightning last season. He has 18 goals and 39 assists in 262 NHL regular season games.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

T.J. Oshie, right wing. Why in the world would the Capitals expose a player who notched 33 goals and 23 assists in 68 games last season? Our friends at the Russian Machine Never Breaks Capitals fan site break it down to money and uncertainty. Oshie needs a new contract and the NHL currently isn’t sure what the league salary cap will be next season. And Oshie could become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.  All that might be enough for the Golden Knights to pass on him, leaving the Caps to move forward with a new deal once the 2017-18 salary cap is set.

Here’s a look at NHL diversity, the next generation

20 Thursday Oct 2016

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We’ve taken a look at diversity in the National Hockey League at the start of the 2016-17 season. Now let’s take a peek at the future.

A growing number of players color have been drafted by NHL teams in recent years. Several of them are currently playing for the minor league affiliates of the NHL teams that drafted them or skating for the major junior teams they were chosen from.

Some players drafted between 2012 and 2016, like defensemen Seth Jones and Darnell Nurse, have made to the NHL.

A few – like goaltender Malcolm Subban, forwards  Jujhar Khaira and Justin Bailey, and defenseman Oliver Kylington – have logged a few NHL games.

And others, like forward Joshua Ho-Sang, have the potential to be called up to the parent club this season. So here’s a look at NHL diversity, the next generation.

 

Oliver Kylington, D, Calgary Flames 2015 2nd-round pick.

Oliver Kylington, D, Calgary Flames 2015 2nd-round pick.

Jujhar Khaira, F, Edmonton Oilers, 3rd-round, 2012.

Jujhar Khaira, F, Edmonton Oilers, 3rd-round, 2012.

Gemel Smith, F, Dallas Stars, 4th-round, 2012.

Gemel Smith, F, Dallas Stars, 4th-round, 2012.

Malcolm Subban, G, Boston Bruins, 1st-round, 2012.

Malcolm Subban, G, Boston Bruins, 1st-round, 2012.

Tyrell Goulbourne, F, Philadelphia Flyers, 3rd-round, 2013.

Tyrell Goulbourne, F, Philadelphia Flyers, 3rd-round, 2013.

Jonathan Ang, F, Florida Panthers, 4th-round, 2016.

Jonathan Ang, F, Florida Panthers, 4th-round, 2016.

Givani Smith, F, Detroit Red Wings, 2nd-round, 2016.

Givani Smith, F, Detroit Red Wings, 2nd-round, 2016.

Evan Rodrigues, F, Buffalo Sabres, free agent signee 2015-16.

Evan Rodrigues, F, Buffalo Sabres, free agent signee 2015-16.

Cliff Pu, F, Buffalo Sabres, 3rd-round, 2016.

Cliff Pu, F, Buffalo Sabres, 3rd-round, 2016.

Nicholas Baptiste, F, Buffalo Sabres, 3rd-round, 2013.

Nicholas Baptiste, F, Buffalo Sabres, 3rd-round, 2013.

Justin Bailey, F, Buffalo Sabres, 2nd-roound, 2013.

Justin Bailey, F, Buffalo Sabres, 2nd-roound, 2013.

Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, D, Nashville Predators, 3rd-round, 2013.

Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, D, Nashville Predators, 3rd-round, 2013.

Jordan Subban, D, Vancouver Canucks, 4th-round, 2013.

Jordan Subban, D, Vancouver Canucks, 4th-round, 2013.

Madison Bowey, D, Washington Capitals, 2md-round, 2013.

Madison Bowey, D, Washington Capitals, 2md-round, 2013.

Joshua Ho-Sang, F, New York Islanders, 1st-round, 2014.

Joshua Ho-Sang, F, New York Islanders, 1st-round, 2014.

Brandon Montour, D, Anaheim Ducks, 2nd-round, 2014.

Brandon Montour, D, Anaheim Ducks, 2nd-round, 2014.

Bokondji Imama, F, Tampa Bay Lightning 6th-round, 2015.

Bokondji Imama, F, Tampa Bay Lightning 6th-round, 2015.

Ethan Bear, D, Edmonton Oilers 5th-round, 2015.

Ethan Bear, D, Edmonton Oilers 5th-round, 2015.

Devante Stephens, D, Buffalo Sabres 5th-round, 2015.

Devante Stephens, D, Buffalo Sabres 5th-round, 2015.

Caleb Jones, D, Edmonton Oilers 4th-round pick, 2015.

Caleb Jones, D, Edmonton Oilers 4th-round pick, 2015.

Mathieu Joseph, F, Tampa Bay Lightning 4th-round pick, 2015.

Mathieu Joseph, F, Tampa Bay Lightning 4th-round pick, 2015.

Keegan Kolesar, F, Columbus Blue Jackets 3rd-round pick, 2015.

Keegan Kolesar, F, Columbus Blue Jackets 3rd-round pick, 2015.

If it’s playoff time, it’s Joel Ward time

30 Saturday Apr 2016

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Joel Ward strikes again, scoring a crucial Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

Joel Ward strikes again, scoring a crucial Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson earned the nickname “Mr. October” for his home run exploits in the playoffs and World Series.

San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward has earned the reputation  as “Mr. April” or “Mr. May” for his post-season heroics.  Ward showed why the Sharks signed him to a three-year contract last summer as he scored a beautiful goal in the Sharks’ 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in a second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs tilt Friday night.

“I just try to embrace the moment,”  the 35-year-old veteran told the Associated Press. “I just think it’s the atmosphere of the crowds whether its home or away. Everyone is ramped up.”

Ward has 15 goals and 26 assists in 59 career playoff games. He’s averaging a point a game – 1 goal and 5 assists – in six playoff games this post-season. When he played for the Predators, Ward scored 7 goals in 12 playoff games in 2011. Another important number: Ward wears 42 to honor Brooklyn Dodgers baseball great Jackie Robinson.

He’s the crusher of goalie dreams. In 2012, as a member of the Washington Capitals, he scored a Game 7 overtime goal past Tim Thomas that eliminated the Boston Bruins from the playoffs.  In last season’s playoffs, he scored a game-winning goal with one second left that beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

You can call Ward anything – a baller, a player, the X-Factor, The Man, money, a beast, a stud, “Mr. April” or “Mr. May.” Whatever it is, just make sure you call him one hell of a playoff hockey performer.

 

 

Kamloops Blazers’ Jermaine Loewen dreams of being Jamaica-proud in the NHL

19 Tuesday Jan 2016

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Jermaine Loewen longs to be The Second One.

The left wing for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League dreams of becoming the second Jamaican-born player to skate in the National Hockey League, standing on the broad shoulders of Graeme Townshend.

Jermaine Loewen moved from Jamaica to Manitoba, Canada, when he was five (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

Jermaine Loewen moved from Jamaica to Manitoba, Canada, when he was five (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

Townshend was a rugged right wing who played 67 NHL games for the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators. Loewen, who was born in Jamaica and raised in Manitoba, inched closer to his dream Monday when he turned 18 – the minimum age to be eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft.

“I think about that a lot , it’s like, ‘aw, man, I want to be the second guy,'” Loewen told Canada’s Sportsnet of joining Townshend in hockey history books “I just really want to make that happen.”

Loewen is also excited about the possibility of someday seeing Jamaica compete in the Winter Olympics in hockey. The Caribbean island nation, known for its Olympic track and field prowess and for having the world’s funkiest bobsled team, is an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

The Jamaica Ice Hockey Federation has been scouring Canada and the United States for Caribbean expatriate hockey talent in hopes of forming a touring team this summer to boost interest in the program and to attract sponsors for its Winter Olympics endeavor.

The national team effort will need deep pockets to field a team and to help build an ice skating rink in Jamaica, a requirement for full IIHF membership. In hockey’s six degrees of separation, Jamaica’s coaching staff is headed by none other than Graeme Townshend.

After being held scoreless in his rookie season, Jermaine Loewen has 5 goals so far in 2015-16 (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

After being held scoreless in his rookie season, Jermaine Loewen has 5 goals so far in 2015-16 (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

“To have an Olympic team is huge, especially the fact that we’re so small. I’m really happy that they’re making progress,” Loewen told NewsKamloops earlier this month. “Oh yeah…I definitely dream about it…maybe someday going and playing for that. There still is a lot of stuff to work out to get to that level. It’s a pretty big deal. I find it really cool.”

Townshend says he would love to see Loewen – all 6-foot-3, 205 pounds of him – don Jamaica’s flashy green, yellow, and black jersey. In time.

“You know what? I’m hoping that he’s Canadian hockey material first, to be honest,” Townshend told me recently. “Selfishly, of course, I’d love to have him on our team. But I’d like to see him be considered for Team Canada at some point. I know he’s Jamaican, but he grew up in Canada, I’m sure he has a soft spot in his heart for Canada.  Like every Canadian kid, he’d want to represent his country. At some point, I’m sure our paths will cross, but I’d like to see how far he can take this. If he could play for Canada in the World Juniors, that would be amazing.”

Everything about Loewen’s hockey journey has been amazing thus far. Adopted from an orphanage in Mandeville, Jamaica, and relocated to rural Arborg, Manitoba, when he was five, Loewen didn’t lace on a pair of skates until he was six – late by Canadian standards.

He didn’t play his first organized hockey game until he was 10. But that didn’t stop him from getting drafted by the Blazers, a Canadian major junior team, six years later.

Year One with the Blazers was a learning curve for Loewen. He was scoreless in 37 games and amassed 24 penalty minutes. In 39 games this season, he has 5 goals, 3 assists, and a robust 39 penalty minutes.

Loewen wasn’t among the players listed Tuesday in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings of players eligible for the June draft in Buffalo. Still, Townshend is impressed with what Loewen has accomplished so far and believes that he has the raw talent and determination to eventually be chosen by an NHL team.

“His is one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard,” Townshend said.  “Obviously when you start playing organize hockey at 10 when other kids start at six or seven, you’re way behind. He’s made  up a lot of ground in a very short period of time. That says a lot about his character.”

 

 

 

“Riverton Rifle” scoring in life after hockey

12 Saturday Dec 2015

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Reggie Leach won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe trophy, notched 381 goals in 13 National Hockey League seasons, and shares scoring records with legends like Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

But the man known as the “Riverton Rifle” declares that “I’m more proud of what I’ve done after hockey than during my hockey days.”

Flyers forward Reggie Leach with the Stanley Cup.

Flyers forward Reggie Leach with the Stanley Cup.

Hockey brought Leach fame for his regular season scoring prowess and post-season lamp-lighting heroics with the Philadelphia Flyers during the team’s “Broad Street Bullies” haymaker heydays in the 1970s and early 80s.

His post-hockey life has brought something more – sobriety, clarity, sense of purpose, and a renewed family closeness.

Leach, who’s Ojibwe, First Nation, candidly recounts his life on and off the ice in his autobiography “The Riverton Rifle My Story – Straight Shooting on Hockey and on Life.”

It’s a story that spans Leach’s impoverished beginnings in Riverton, Manatoba, to junior hockey stardom in Flin Flon, Manitoba, with a young teammate named Bobby Clarke, to an NHL career marked with records on the ice and recklessness off it.

“It wasn’t that hard to do if you’re honest with everything and go ahead and write it, ” Leach, 65, said of penning the book. “It’s more of a learning book based on the Seven Grandfather Teachings of the Ojibwe nation. It was dedicated to my grandkids and kids that need help.”

Reggie Leach and his wife, Dawn, recently taking in a hockey game in Winnipeg.

Reggie Leach and his wife, Dawn, recently taking in a hockey game in Winnipeg.

People who watched a young Reggie Leach play hockey in Manitoba considered him a natural –  a swift skater blessed with a hard and deadly accurate shot.

What they might not have known that his skating skills were honed by figure skating lessons and the shot developed from countless hours in the offseason shooting on the hard concrete of thawed-out rinks.

The hard work paid off in success in major junior hockey. Playing alongside Clarke, Leach 255 goals and 146 assists in 183 games for the Flin Flon Bombers of the Western Hockey League and the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Although he was a star player in juniors, he wasn’t immune to racist taunts of opposing players and so-called “fans” in the stands.

“There’d be a bunch of name-calling and everything else,” he said. “My junior coach, Pat Ginnell, said ‘Reg, the only reason these people are calling you names is you’re being noticed out there.'”

The Boston Bruins noticed Leach and took the right wing with the third overall pick in the first round of the 1970 NHL Draft. He appeared in 78 games over two seasons with the Bruins playing with the likes of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Gerry Cheevers and Derek Sanderson.

His stint in Boston ended when he was traded to the lowly California Golden Seals in the 1971-72 season in a blockbuster deal that sent prized Seals defenseman Carol Vadnais to the Bruins.

Leach endured three seasons in Oakland with the white skates-wearing Seals before being dealt to the Flyers and reunited with Flin Flon linemate Clarke, the gap-toothed, diabetic center who blossomed into the ringleader of the Broad Street Bullies and one of the best players in the NHL.

Leach would often say that “Clarkie makes the bombs and I drop ’em.” He proved to be quite the bombardier throughout his NHL career, notching 381 goals and 285 assists in 934 games.

While Leach was piling up goals, he was also compiling records, many of which stand today: goals in consecutive playoff games (10 in 1976); most goals in one playoff game (5 in 1976), shared with the Montreal Canadiens legend Rocket Richard, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darryl Sittler , and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mario Lemieux; most goals in one period of a playoff game (4 in 1976), shared with Flyers forward Tim Kerr and Lemieux; most goals in one playoff season (19 in 1976), shared with Edmonton Oilers winger Jari Kurri.

Leach put fear in the hearts of NHL defensemen and goalies with his hard, accurate shot (Photo/ Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)

Leach put fear in the hearts of NHL defensemen and goalies with his hard, accurate shot (Photo/ Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)

Success for Leach came as fast and hard as the shots he fired at terrified goalies. Perhaps too fast.

He drank, heavily. He wasn’t an everyday drunk. Sometimes he wouldn’t imbibe for weeks. But when he did, he went all-in.

“Years of binge drinking had taken a toll on my (first) marriage and it was hanging on by a thread,” Leach writes in his book. “By that time, I would go on a bender every week or two – run out for a loaf of bread on Friday and return on Sunday.”

After a doctor told him “Either you stop drinking now or you keep drinking and die,” Leach checked into the Maryville Addiction Treatment Center in Williamstown, N.J., where he confronted the demons that drove him to booze.

“It was very difficult to look at my past,” he writes. “In just a few short years, I had left behind my life as a carefree kid to become a married father of two. I had gone from relative obscurity to hockey stardom – and life in the fast lane. The change had been overwhelming and I turned to alcohol to help me cope.”

Leach left rehab in 1985 and felt good enough to consider resuming his hockey career – either as a player or a coach. Former teammates Clarke and Bill Barber suggested that he lace up the skates and give hockey a go again.

“It slowly dawned on me that I was about to return not just to the game I loved but also to the life of a professional hockey player, a life that involved spending time in bars and other places where beer taps were open,” Leach writes. “I knew I had to avoid situations that would trigger a relapse in my drinking – so after a lot of thought about what I had just fought through and careful reflection on what I had learned, I decided not to make a comeback.”

And he hasn’t looked back. Sobriety rekindled Leach’s relationship with his son, former Penguins right wing Jamie Leach, and his daughter, Brandie, a chiropractor in Austin, Texas, and a former Canadian national team lacrosse player.

He moved from South New Jersey, where many of his Flyers teammates retired,  to Manitoulin, Ontario with his wife, Dawn.  The “Riverton Rifle’ may be retired, but he hasn’t stopped working.

Reggie Leach (right to left) reunites with Bob Clarke and Bill Barber for an alumni game before the 2012 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic in Philadelphia (Photo/ by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

Reggie Leach (right to left) reunites with Bob Clarke and Bill Barber for an alumni game before the 2012 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic in Philadelphia (Photo/ by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

He helps teach aboriginal kids the value of making positive choices through the Shoot to Score hockey school he runs with his son. And he’s an in-demand motivational speaker who shares his story and his phone number with troubled teens.

“I’ve done this for a number of years. I’ve probably had 50 to 60 calls at night,” Leach told CBC News in November. “Even if you talk to these kids one or two minutes and give them the acknowledgement they deserve, I think for me it’s a big relief just to see smiles on their faces.”

Philadelphia Flyers fans haven't forgotten the "Riverton Rifle." Is he Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy? (Photo/Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images)

Philadelphia Flyers fans haven’t forgotten the “Riverton Rifle.” Is he Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy? (Photo/Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images)

While Leach speaks with pride about his post-hockey  life and his Ojibwe heritage, he talks modestly about whether he should be honored for his playing career.

There was a 2013 drive to have Leach inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame,  where his “LCB” linemates Clarke and Barber are already enshrined, that spurred a petition and even a song.

“To me, it really doesn’t matter,” Leach told me. “All these people that want me in the Hall of Fame, I say they are my hall of famers.”

Leach thinks former Flyers John LeClair, above, and Brian Propp should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo/Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)

Leach thinks former Flyers John LeClair, above, and Brian Propp should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo/Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images)

But he isn’t shy about saying who he thinks should be enshrined in Toronto – former Flyers left wings John LeClair and Brian Propp.

Propp produced 425 goals and 579 helpers in 1,016 NHL games over 16 years.

“He’s got  nearly 1,100 points, no different than some of the other players that are put in there,” Leach said.

LeClair, part of the Flyers’ famous “Legion of Doom” line with center Eric Lindros and right wing Mikael Renberg, tallied 406 goals and 413 assists in 967 NHL games over 17 years.

“I’m happy that Billy and Clarkie got in there,” he told me. “I’m happy for all the guys from the Flyers who got in the Hall of Fame, that’s great. There should be more players in the Hall of Fame who played for the Flyers who are not.”