TheColorOfHockey

~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color

TheColorOfHockey

Tag Archives: Darrell Maxwell

Canada’s first all-black college hockey line jumped over the boards, into history

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bob Dawson, Darrell Maxwell, John Paris, Percy Paris, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Mary's University

When Saint Mary’s University Huskies hockey Head Coach Bob Boucher called out their names, players Bob Dawson, Percy Paris, and Darrell Maxwell didn’t realize at the time that they were about to jump over the boards and into hockey history.

It was February 1970, as Dawson recalls, in a game against the Mount Allison University Mounties. Boucher did something that no one in Canadian university hockey had done before or since – put an all-black forward line on the ice.

“The first time Bob Boucher did it, I don’t think people gave it too much thought. I don’t think we, as players, gave it a whole lot of thought right away but I think the coach knew exactly what he was doing,” Percy Paris, a former Nova Scotia cabinet minister, told me recently. “Three Nova Scotia-born players of African descent that were good hockey players – I guess he wanted to make a statement. Obviously there weren’t many persons of African-descent playing hockey, period. He wanted people to stand up and take notice and say ‘Here are three good hockey players and there should be more of them. Let’s make room for them.'”

The three line mates shared their under-told story with Rogers Sportsnet over the weekend in an excellent piece by producer Jason Robert Thom that aired as part of the network’s “Hockey Day in Canada” coverage.

If Boucher was trying to make a statement, he never told anyone, even the players involved in the history-making move.

“We were a wee bit confused because Bob was a defenseman,” said Paris, whose brother, John Paris, Jr., became the first black head coach to win a professional hockey championship when he guided the old International Hockey League Atlanta Knights to a title in 1994. “He (Boucher) didn’t come to the three of us and say ‘Percy, you take center, Darrell, you’re going to take the right side.’ He just tapped the three of us on the shoulder and said ‘Get out there.’ And over the boards we went and we figured it out once we got out there.”

Dawson, 68, said “it was only later, reflecting back on it, that we realized the significance of it.”

“Having shared in that was kind of special,” Dawson said. “It brought back memories of the Black Aces of Herb Carnegie, Ossie, and Manny McIntyre.”

The Black Aces: Herb Carnegie, center, Ossie Carnegie, right, and Manny McIntyre.

The Black Aces: Herb Carnegie, center, Ossie Carnegie, right, and Manny McIntyre.

The high-scoring Black Aces line played for the Sherbrooke Saints of the Quebec Provincial Hockey League and for other teams in Canada and Europe in the 1940s. Herb Carnegie, regarded as one of the best hockey players never to reach the National Hockey League, centered the all-black line with older brother Ossie Carnegie on one wing and rugged Manny McIntyre on the other.

Like the Black Aces, Dawson, Maxwell and Paris felt the sting of racism while trying to play the game they loved.

“It wasn’t until I played university hockey in ’67 with Saint Mary’s that I experienced it,” Dawson said. “In 67-68 when I went to places like Prince Edward Island where we’d play the University of Prince Edward Island. During the warm-ups you’d have fans call out names like ‘nigger,’ and ‘snowball,’ and ‘coon.’ During the game, there were one or two opposing players who would echo the same kind of slurs.They’d try to take certain liberties with you in terms of cheap shots – spearing and whacking you behind the legs, and slew-footing you.”

The 1970 St. Mary's University Huskies. Bob Dawson (second from left, middle row) and Darrell Maxwell (third from right, middle row).  Percy Paris not in photo. Head Coach Bob Boucher, front row, center.

The 1970 St. Mary’s University Huskies. Bob Dawson (second from left, middle row) and Darrell Maxwell (third from right, middle row). Percy Paris not in photo. Head Coach Bob Boucher, front row, center.

But the insults and indignities didn’t deter the three players or the team. The Huskies played in Canadian college hockey national championship games in four consecutive seasons to 1973.

The players credit the team’s success to Boucher, who compiled a record of 231 wins, 33 losses and four ties in 13 seasons at Saint Mary’s.

“Our coach was a bit ahead of his time,” said Maxwell, 68, who worked for the Canadian government in its human resources and revenue divisions. “He had been over to Russia and studied their system prior to a lot of people in North America paying a lot of attention to the Russians. We had some unique preparations before and during games, and our practices, that he learned from going over to Europe and Russia.”

Percy Paris, second-row, center, playing for Kings/Edgehill College, a high school hockey team in Nova Scotia.

Percy Paris, second-row, center, playing for Kings/Edgehill College, a high school hockey team in Nova Scotia.

Boucher left Saint Mary’s in 1982 to become an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons  under Head Coach Pat Quinn. He took over a Flyers power play that ranked last in the NHL in 1981 and improved it to the league’s best PP the next season. Boucher died in December 2004 after a short battle with lung cancer.

“He was a no-nonsense coach,” said Dawson, a retired Canadian government human resources employee. “In terms of the technical aspects of the game, he was well-versed. And he was fair. He was the best coach I ever had.”

Former Saint Mary's University hockey coach Bob Boucher, right, with then-Philadelphia Flyers head coach Pat Quinn (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

Former Saint Mary’s University hockey coach Bob Boucher, right, with then-Philadelphia Flyers head coach Pat Quinn (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

Dawson, Maxwell, and Paris plan to go back to Saint Mary’s campus in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in August to reminisce about their coach and exchange stories about the good times and bad they experienced over their collegiate hockey careers.

They also plan to do something that they never did during their playing days: take a photo together wearing Saint Mary’s hockey jerseys.

Dawson and Maxwell are in the Huskies’ 1970 team picture but Paris didn’t make the photo session because he was recovering from injuries suffered in a serious car accident.

“Even though we’re showing more gray now than we did then at least we can say we finally have a picture together in a Saint Mary’s uniform,” Maxwell said.

A special Color of Hockey thanks to the good people at Rogers Sportsnet for providing video of their “Hockey Day in Canada” piece on Dawson, Maxwell and Paris.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Meet the Black and biracial players in NCAA women’s hockey in 2022-23
  • Asian & Pacific Islander heritage players on 2020-21 team rosters in pictures
  • Meet the Black players on NCAA women’s hockey rosters in 2020-21
  • Jaden Lindo adds new chapter to ‘Soul on Ice’ by winning hockey championship
  • Sarah Nurse seeks gold at IIHF world championship after winning Olympic silver

Archives

  • April 2023
  • May 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • April 2013
  • December 2012

Categories

  • John Tortorella
  • nhl.com
  • Uncategorized

Hockey Links

  • American Collegiate Hockey Association
  • Black Ice Book
  • Detroit Hockey Association
  • Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation
  • Fort Dupont Ice Arena
  • Hasek's Heroes
  • Hockey is for Everyone
  • Hockeyland Canada
  • Ice Hockey in Harlem
  • International Ice Hockey Federation
  • Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation
  • Kevin Weekes Online
  • NHL official website
  • NHL Uniforms
  • Ted's Take
  • The American Hockey League
  • The ECHL
  • TSN
  • USA Hockey

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: