Tag Archives: Hockey is for Everyone

Hockey’s diversity in pictures from pee wee to the professional leagues

05 Tuesday Mar 2019

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Black History Month showed how far hockey has come in terms of diversity and inclusion and how much further it has to go.

The contributions of black players were chronicled aboard the National Hockey League’s American Legacy Black Hockey History bus, a mobile museum that toured eight cities as part of the league’s Black History Month celebration.

Women of color enjoyed attending games together in New York, Nashville and Brooklyn last month as part of the Black Girl Hockey Club, a sisterhood that keeps growing after each event.

Willie O’Ree continued to be showered with the accolades that he deserves as the NHL’s first black player and the godfather of a generation of minority players and fans through the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

O’Ree, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, was feted at the Canadian Embassy in Washington last month. There, attending members of the U.S. House of Representatives announced that they’re introducing a bill to award O’Ree the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.

But February’s hockey highs shared headlines with a low when some people – let’s not call them fans – racially taunted black forward  Jonathan Diaby, a 2013 Nashville Predators third-round draft pick, and his family at a semi-professional Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey game in Quebec.

Some of the spectators in the arena acted as if they had never seen a hockey player of color before, a sad reaction considering that minorities are part of the game’s past, present and future.

So I asked Color of Hockey readers to send pictures to show just how entrenched we are in the game. And, boy, you responded big time – from pee wee players to pros. Thank you all for sharing your photos, your stories, and your love of the game.

Consider this a Hockey Family Photo Album. There will be a Page 2 with more photos in the coming days. People who sent pictures without information like the names of the people in the shots, please send them again to colorofhockey@gmail.com with the relevant information.

Kendall Day. left. and Dmitri Williams, Columbus Ice Hockey Club (Photo/Courtesy of Deneen Day).

Reilly Love, Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. “I played elite hockey growing in NY. I still play men’s league in the Philly area,” father Julian Love said in an email. “Sometimes I felt like I was the only one of color playing hockey.” (Photo/Courtesy Julian Love).

Hockey is a generational thing in Trazana (Brown) Powell’s family. “So my dad, Carl Brown, 67 YEARS YOUNG. plays hockey twice a week with the Quincy Bald Eagles and a pick up league of older guys,” Powell wrote via email. “Born In Jamaica but when he got to the States he fell in love with hockey!  Taught himself to skate and never stopped.”

Carl Brown getting ready to skate with the Quincy Bald Eagles (Photo/Courtesy Trazana Powell).

“FAST FORWARD to the birth of me!” Powell continued. “My dad put (me) on skates at 1, started hockey at 10, excelled. Played on numerous teams mainly with boys, played in high school (varsity) played at Northeastern University and now Coach! Which I believe is my passion! Even til this day I am known in my town as “that black girl that played hockey”

Trazana (Brown) Powell playing for Northeastern University (Photo/Courtesy Trazana Powell).

“My oldest son, Cameron Powell,age 10, started hockey about 2 years ago
and I’m so proud of his determination and love for the family game,” Powell wrote. “He plays on two teams, The Southeast Cyclones and with Score Boston Hockey. Last year he had the opportunity to meet Willie O’Ree and its a day he still talks about today.”

Cameron Powell (Photo/Courtesy Trazana Powell).

Twins Cree and Chloe Powell, 5. Cree plays hockey. Chloe “hasn’t gotten the hockey bug yet but stay tuned!!!” her mother said (Photo/Courtesy Trazana Powell).

Desmond Allman “is all hockey, all the time,” dad Marc Allman wrote. “It’s not easy being a black hockey player in a mostly white sport (with white parents on top of that), but Des thrives. He got his first N word thrown his way in a tournament a few weeks ago, but he continues to march on” (Photo/Courtesy Marc Allman).

Kevin Horton, left, and his buddy, Brad. “We do that hockey,” Horton said in an email. Photo/Courtesy Kevin Horton).

Adrien Bray sent a photo “From my first year of beer league (The Beerwings of Detroit,MI),” she wrote. “We won our first tournament… I was the only woman and my friend and I were the only black folk. ” (Photo/Courtesy Adrien Bray).

Adrien Bray and her Beerwings teammates (Photo.Courtesy Adrien Bray).

Washington Blind Hockey Club player Tyrese Springer. He is visually impaired due to albinism. (Photo/Courtesy Washington Blind Hockey Club).

Washington Blind Hockey Club player Tyrese Springer in action (Photo/Courtesy Washington Blind Hockey Club).

Courtney Szto plays for the Hatchicks in Vancouver (Photo/Courtesy Courtney Szto).

Mark Fraser, a former NHL defenseman who’s now playing for HKM Zvolen in Slovakia, sent this via Twitter:

Roman Ephron, 8, of Houston Texas. He began hockey through the Dallas Stars’ Learn to Play program in 2015. “He began skating in 2014 and fell in love with ice skating,” mother Bea Ephron wrote “There is no place he’d rather be.” (Photo/Courtesy Bea Ephron).

Donna Zephrine, Long Island Rough Riders sled hockey (Photo/Courtesy Donna Zephrine).

Leah Frazier from Odenton, Maryland. “The tutu is for Halloween,” she wrote. (Photo/Courtesy Leah Frazier).

Nathan King, goaltender, St. Mary’s Catholic Central High School in Ohio. I” was born in Accra, Ghana my family moved to the United States when I was 3 and I started skating at around 7,” he wrote. “I’m 17 now and have been playing goalie ever since I started.” (Photo/Courtesy Nathan King).

Max Nguyen of the Los Angeles Jr. Kings. Mom Lydia Nguyen said Max is “1/2 Vietnamese 1/4 Japanese” and is one of 8 players of color on his team (Photo/Courtesy Lydia Nguyen).

Nate Mitton, forward, for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. “I grew up outside of Toronto, my mom moved to Canada from Jamaica with my grandmother,” Mitton wrote. “My dad put me and my brother in hockey and it’s been my passion ever since. I am very proud to be a black hockey player I remember when I was little my dad got me a Willie O’Ree collectors hockey card. My dream is to inspire other kids to chase their dreams.” (Photo/Courtesy Nate Mitton/Tony Bailey Photography).

Rachel Woods and Erica Melcher (Photo/Courtesy Rachel Woods).

Erica Melcher getting down to business on the ice (Photo/Courtesy Erica Melcher).

From a little boy in New York to a grown man living in Amsterdam, hockey has always been a part of Ted Iglesias’s life.

A young Theodore Iglesias (Photo/Courtesy Theodore Iglesias).

“I am bi-racial, from Curaçao and southern Spain,” Iglesias wrote. “I am 49 and have been playing and skating since age 4. I am originally from the NY metro area and played in junior boarding school, prep school and college. I now coach skills here in Amsterdam with the Amsterdam Tigers organization.” (Photo/Courtesy Theodore Iglesias).

Isaiah Marquez-Greene and Arthur Smith. “There was a 2017 summer hockey tournament in Foxboro, Ma. Isaiah’s team was coming off the ice and Arthur’s summer team was about to play,” Alex Smith wrote. “The kids’ parents knew each other through goalie camps but had no idea they’d be on the same team a season later.” (Photo/Courtesy Alex Smith).

Isaiah Artis, 15, Lehigh Valley Phantoms Youth Hockey Organization. “He agreed to try hockey at the urging of our neighbors/friends we
used to go watch play,” proud mom Eunice Ofori Artis wrote. “He eventually went to “Try Hockey for Free Day”, and he was hooked.” (Photo/Courtesy Eunice Ofori Artis).

Rayla Wilkes, 6, serving as honorary captain for the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women’s Hockey League (Photo/Courtesy Amanda Wilkes).

Calvin Conway, Wasington, D.C., area. “He eats, sleeps and breathes hockey!” mother Joy Conway wrote. (Photo/Courtesy Joy Conway).

Zander Shank, 8, of Ohio “He has been obsessed with hockey since he was 3 years old!” mom Stephanie Mohr Shank wrote. ” We don’t really know where it comes from other than watching the Pittsburgh Penguins on TV. He LOVES hockey. Loves, loves, loves it.” (Photo/Courtesy Stephanie Mohr Shank.)

Eli Shank, 11, was inspired to play hockey by his younger brother, Zander (Photo/Courtesy Stephanie Mohr Shank).

Tarasai Karega, far right, with NCAA Division III hockey championship Trophy she won with Amherst College in 2009 (Photo/Courtesy Tarasai Karega).

Ayodele Adeniye, Carleton Place Canadians, a Junior A team in the Central Canada Hockey League. Adeniye is committed to play hockey for the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 2020 (Photo/Courtesy Ayodele Adeniye).

Meet the Lowry brothers.

Jake Lowry. “They are half African -American and half Indian. We live in Summit NJ,” their mother, Camellia, wrote. “Jake Lowry #17 played Bantam Minor AAA for NJ Titans this past season. He also played for Summit Middle School. He’s been playing travel hockey since 1st grade and is now in 8th grade (Photo/Courtesy Camellia Redmerski)”

“Jordan Lowry #18 played Bantam Major AAA for NJ Titans this last season,” his mother wrote. “He also is on the Varsity and JV roster for Summit High School and is a freshman. He’s been playing travel hockey since 2nd grade (Photo/Camellia Redmerski).”

Rivington D. Jones (Photo/Courtesy R. Douglas Jones).

The Fort Dupont Cannons of Washington, D.C., 2018 (Photo/Courtesy AJ Messier/Hogtown Studios).

Maryland’s Tucker Road Ducks, 2017 (Photo/Courtesy Tucker Road Ducks).

The Tucker Road Ducks and the Banners of Baltimore, Maryland, 2019.

Ice Hockey in Harlem, 2016 (Photo/Courtesy Ice Hockey in Harlem).

Inner City Education program of Chicago. “We provide the children with equipment, coaching, practice twice a week, tutoring every time they come to practice and the opportunity to earn scholarships!” Coach Mark Giarelli wrote (Photo/Courtesy Mark Giarelli).

Brandon Romany of the Kitchener Dutchman (Photo/Courtesy Brian Romany).

Brandon’s father, power skating instructor Brian Romany laces up the skates (Photo/Courtesy Brian Romany).

Peyton Francis, right), who’ll play hockey for the University of Alabama-Huntsville next season, is a Carleton Place Canadians forward who also skates for the Jamaican national team initiative (Photo/Courtesy Mark Francis).

Isaiah Nokken, 12, of Spring Lake Park, Minnesota. Isaiah was born in Ethiopia and got involved in hockey through his cousins. “His grandfather was a high school hockey coach so has been around a lot of hockey watching and playing,” mom Kari Nokken wrote (Photo/Courtesy Kari Nokken).

Stay tuned for Page 2 of the Hockey Family Photo Album.

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Maryland hockey team seeks to ‘stick it’ to racism after black player is taunted at game

04 Friday Jan 2019

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They say that Hockey is for Everyone. Unfortunately, some folks still haven’t gotten the memo.

Some players who faced 13-year-old Divyne Apollon II must have been among that group.

Otherwise they wouldn’t have taunted the defenseman for the Metro Maple Leafs, an Under-14 team in Maryland, with monkey noises, chants of “Go play basketball” and “Get off the ice” or rhetorically hurl the occasional N-word toward him.

Divyne Apollon II, left, with Divyne Apollon Sr., and the player’s sisters, Devinity and Deja (Photo/Courtesy of Divyne Apollon Sr.).

Divyne was racially abused during a tournament in Maryland last week, and it wasn’t the first time in his five-year hockey career.

His father, Divyne Apollon Sr., gave him hockey’s version of “The Talk” years ago: if an opposing player racially targets you, keep calm, don’t let it throw you off your game, and don’t let the ugly words or actions of others define who you are as a person or player.

“We’ve had several conversations on what your reaction should be – letting a coach know, letting a ref know as soon as you hear someone make a comment,” the father told me. “We’re looking to make it to the next level, the ultimate level, the NHL. You fighting every single game, every single year, no team is going to take you because you’re fighting every single game.”

After hearing about the racial abuse Divyne Apollon suffered on the ice, Tammi Lynch, the mother of a teammate, created this sticker (Photo/Courtesy Tammi Lynch).

But the elder Apollon apparently never gave “The Talk” to his son’s white teammates or other Metro Maple Leafs parents. When they heard and saw what Divyne had endured on the ice at a game last weekend at Maryland’s Bowie Ice Arena, they got into a fighting mood.

“They were so angry about it,” the elder Apollon told Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak, a hockey mom who first reported about the ugly incident. “They seemed even angrier than us.”

Tammi Lynch, a Metro Maple Leafs mom, was among the fighting mad. She didn’t drop the gloves, though. She hit the computer keyboard instead and designed a sticker with the word “racism” and a red hockey stick slashed across it.

“What Divyne had explained to me was so wrong that I felt like we could not just sit there and say ‘Oh gosh, too bad that this happened,'” Lynch told me. “It shouldn’t be happening. And, as a group, we can stand up and say ‘We don’t support this and this is not what our team and hockey is about.'”

Divyne’s teammates placed the stickers on their sticks the next game. Parents wore the stickers on their apparel. It was a simple gesture that scored big with the Apollons  and registered with others within the hockey community.

“I hadn’t realized that so many people actually cared about it until she did make the sticker and all the players had it on their sticks and all the parents had them on their coats or whatever they were wearing that day,” young Divyne told me. “I felt appreciated and like I actually mattered on the team.”

“I was taken aback by it, I was floored, I was elated,”  his dad added. “We had become almost numb to it because it (racist taunting) happened so often. The response was amazing.”

After the elder Apollon, Lynch, and others posted pictures of the stickers on social media, requests came pouring in from other hockey teams wanting copies to put on their players’ helmets and sticks.

“It’s been shocking and amazing,” Lynch said. “Divyne’s gotten emails ‘Can I get stickers from you, can we get them for our team, I’ll take 100, another person said I’ll take 100.’ It has exploded and blossomed.”

Lynch and the Apollons told The Post that they want to carry the anti-racism message beyond stickers. They hope to start a movement called “Hockey > Hate.”

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The time is right for more people of color to get the call from U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

10 Monday Dec 2018

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American-born hockey excellence will be celebrated in Nashville, Tennessee, when five deserving individuals are inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Wednesday night.

Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile, former three-time Winter Olympian Natalie Darwitz, legendary former University of Michigan hockey Head Coach Gordon “Red” Berenson, retired National Hockey League referee Paul Stewart and the late Leland “Hago” Harrington will be honored by the U.S. Hall.

The new inductees will join 173 individuals and four hockey teams enshrined in the U.S. Hall, located in Eveleth, Minnesota, about 190 miles from Minneapolis.

Since opening its doors in 1973, the Hall has inducted two people of minority heritage – Henry Boucha and Bill Guerin.

Henry Boucha was a Minnesota high school hockey star, played in the 1972 Winter Olympics and had a promising pro career until he suffered a serious injury (Photo/Portnoy/Hockey Hall of Fame).

Boucha, a Native American (Ojibwe), was a standout high school hockey player in Minnesota and a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team that won the Silver Medal at the Sapporo, Japan, games.

The Detroit Red Wings chose Boucha in the second round of the 1971 NHL Draft. The gifted center seemed destined for hockey stardom post-Olympics but a cracked bone around his eye – the result of a vicious 1975 altercation with Boston Bruins forward Dave Forbes – curtailed his career.

Boucha appeared in 247 NHL games for the Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies and tallied 53 goals and 49 assists. He played 36 games for the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the old World Hockey Association, scoring 15 goals and 20 assists.

Guerin, who is of Nicaraguan and Irish descent, was a high-scoring forward for seven NHL teams.

He won the Stanley Cup in 1994-95 with the New Jersey Devils and again in 2008-09 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a Penguins assistant general manager when the team won back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017.

Guerin was a member of the U.S. men’s hockey team that won silver at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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He also played on the U.S. men’s squad at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, the first Winter Games where NHL players competed.

During his NHL career, Guerin tallied 429 goals and 427 assists in 1,263 regular season games and 39 goals and 35 assists in 140 Stanley Cup Playoffs contests.

With more and more people of color getting involved in hockey at all levels and all aspects of the game, the time seems right to give Boucha and Guerin a little more company in the U.S. Hall.

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (who is Henry Boucha’s second cousin) should all merit U.S. Hall induction consideration if their careers continue on their current paths.

As for the here and now, who fulfills the Hall’s induction criteria that nominees must exhibit extraordinary contributions to hockey in the United States? Some suggestions:

NEAL HENDERSON, head coach/founder of Washington, D.C.’s Fort Dupont Hockey Club. Henderson was preaching that “Hockey is for Everyone” long before tit became the NHL’s mantra.

He’s the patriarch of North America’s oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program – 43 years and counting – and is responsible for building a generation of black hockey players and fans in the Washington, D.C., region and beyond.

Fort Dupont Hockey Club coach and founder Neal Henderson prepares to drop a puck at a Washington Capitals game (Photo/Courtesy Robert Primus).

Henderson, 82, has also launched a generation of kids, many of them disadvantaged, on  paths toward success by using hockey to teach the value of teamwork, responsibility, punctuality, good manners, and the necessity of pursuing an education.

He’s done so despite undergoing joint surgeries, skating in an ancient ice rink in one of Washington’s tougher neighborhoods, and often having only just enough money to pay the non-profit program’s bills.

“There are few coaches as remarkable and deserving as Neal Henderson, who I believe is an obvious choice for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame,” said U.S. House Rep. Mike Quigley, co-chair of the Congressional Hockey Caucus on Capitol Hill. “Neal has dedicated himself to the principle that ‘Hockey is for Everyone,’ having spent decades fostering community and ensuring that every child in D.C. – regardless of race, zip code, socioeconomic status – has the opportunity to fall in love with the game.”

Henderson’s Fort Dupont program has produced success stories like Lt. Col Ralph Featherstone, a U.S. Marine aviator who became the first black captain of the United States Naval Academy’s hockey team.

Coach Neal Henderson – last row, second from the left – has been guiding the Fort Dupont Hockey Club since he founded the team 43 years ago (Photo/AJ Messier/Hogtown Studios).

Duante Abercrombie, another Henderson pupil, is now the head coach of the Washington Little Capitals 16U National Team, a program with a track record of developing players who go on to NCAA hockey programs and junior leagues like the USHL.

Fort Dupont became the model for programs like the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and similar organizations under the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” umbrella.

It’s not for nothing that after Capitals won the Stanley Cup in June, team Owner Ted Leonsis and superstar forward Alex Ovechkin took it to the Fort Dupont Ice Arena to share it with Henderson’s players.

Henderson was a finalist for the NHL’s inaugural Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award. He received the Bridgestone Mark Messier Youth Leadership Award in 2010.

Scott Gomez won two Stanley Cups and the Calder Trophy in a 16-year NHL career.

SCOTT GOMEZ, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who also won the NHL’s 1999-2000 Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.

The son of a Mexican-American father and Colombian mother, Gomez is regarded as perhaps the best hockey player to come out of Anchorage, Alaska.

A center, Gomez played for seven teams over his 16-year NHL career but he’ll forever be associated with the New Jersey Devils, the team he collected Cups with in 1999-2000 and 2002-2003.

He had his best season in New Jersey in 2005-06 when he notched 33 goals and 51 assists in 82 regular season games and 5 goals and 4 assists in nine playoff games.

In all, he tallied 181 goals and 575 assists in 1079 NHL regular season contests and 29 goals and 72 assists in 149 playoff games.

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Gomez had a goal and 4 assists in six games for the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He also skated for the U.S. at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship tournaments in 1997-98 and 1998-99 and the 2004 World Cup.

His international stat sheet: 6 goals, 14 assists in 24 games.

Gomez, currently an assistant coach for the New York Islanders, embraced his heritage throughout his career and his play inspired other Hispanics to watch and take up hockey.

“If a Hispanic player like Scott Gomez can overcome his many life obstacles from afar in Alaska to play professional hockey in the NHL, the Hispanic player from New Jersey, Miami, New York can propose to achieve the same,” said Nelson Negron, a  Mahwah, New Jersey, resident whose son, Peter Negron is a goaltender for NCAA Division III Hamilton College. “And Scott represented himself, family, teammates and Hispanics well by being a consummate and exemplary professional and human being.”

Gomez has also represented his home state. He’s contributed time and money to help keep youth hockey alive in Alaska, particularly girls’ high school hockey, through his Scotty Gomez Foundation.

Forward Julie Chu competed in four Winter Olympics for the United States (Photo/Nancie Battaglia)

JULIE CHU, is a four-time Winter Olympian and one of the most-decorated players in U.S. women’s hockey history.

She has more hardware than Home Depot – Olympic Silver Medals from Sochi in 2014, Vancouver in 2010,  Salt Lake City in 2002 and a Bronze Medal from Turin in 2006.

Chu was the U.S. flag-bearer at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Games in Russia, joining Hockey Hall of Fame and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Cammi Granato as the only women’s hockey players to receive the honor.

She’s the first person of color to carry the U.S. at a Winter Olympics closing ceremony.

Chu, who was a forward, owns a lot of gold in the form of IIHF Women’s World Championship medals. She earned them with U.S. women’s teams that competed in 2005 in Sweden, 2008 in China, 2009 in Finland, 2011 in Switzerland and 2013 in Ottawa.

When Chu’s U.S. teams didn’t win gold medals at IIHF tournaments, they earned silver in 2001 in Minnesota, 2002 in Halifax, 2007 in Winnipeg,  and 2012 in Vermont.

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Chu tallied 4 goals and 20 assists in 20 Winter Olympics matches. She notched 13 goals and 34 assists in 44 IIHF world championship contests.

A four-time All-American at Harvard University, she is the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s hockey with 284 points – 88 goals and 196 assists in 129 games – over four seasons.

She was the recipient of the 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award – the women’s hockey equivalent of the Hobey Baker Award – and the 2007 Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year by USA Hockey.

Chu won three Canadian Women’s Hockey League championships in 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2016-17. She’s now the head coach of Concordia University’s women’s hockey team in Montreal.

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Willie O’Ree goes from Hockey Hall of Fame plaque to San Diego bobblehead

18 Sunday Nov 2018

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What do you do for a man who’s just been immortalized on a Hockey Hall of Fame plaque? Make a bobblehead in his image.

That’s what the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League did for Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player.

San Diego honored O’Ree, who played seven seasons for Gulls teams that skated in the defunct Western Hockey League and Pacific Hockey League, at a home game Friday night after he was enshrined at the Hall Monday evening.

The Gulls, an Anaheim Ducks farm team, wore O’Ree-era throwback jerseys Friday in their game against the Bakersfield Condors, an Edmonton Oilers affiliate.

O’Ree became the NHL’s first black player on January 18, 1958 when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

He appeared in 45 games over two NHL seasons,  a remarkable feat considering that he’s blind in his right eye – the result of being struck by a puck.

But the injury didn’t prevent him from having a long and productive minor league career, most of which was played in San Diego.

“I was a San Diego Gull when I came here in 1967 and I still am,” O’Ree told the bobblehead-receiving fans inside the Valley  View Casino Center Friday.”It is the finest group of fans I ever played in front of and I am honored to be part of this tonight.”

O’Ree, who makes his home in San Diego, finished his playing career in 1978-79 as the old WHL’s 16th all-time leading scorer with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games.

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O’Ree entered the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for those who have contributed to the foundation of the game.

His induction into the Hall is a a nod to his work as the NHL’s diversity ambassador and its “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

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Hockey Hall of Famers laud the inductions of Willie O’Ree, Jayna Hefford

12 Monday Nov 2018

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TORONTO – Angela James is excited to have company.

James, the first black woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, will be joined in Toronto’s hockey shrine Monday night by Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, and Jayna Hefford, the commissioner of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and, like James, a former high-scoring player for Canada’s national teams.

 

Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James, center. is thrilled to have Willie O’Ree and Jayna Hefford join her.

Hefford becomes the sixth woman to enter the Hall, further answering the question James asked in her 2010 induction speech: “Who is next?”

“I think we’re finally almost up to a full table,” James said Sunday after skating in the Hall of Fame induction weekend’s Legends Game. “After the inductions and stuff, we can sit around and reminisce and talk about things just like the guys can. The more women there are, the better memories and times we can share together.”

James and Hefford will share that stable with former Canadian Olympic team stars Danielle Goyette and Geraldine Heaney and former U.S. Olympians Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero.

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James, who was regarded as Canada’s female Wayne Gretzky during her heyday, is equally proud about O’Ree getting into the Hall, becoming its third black inductee, joining herself and former Edmonton Oilers goaltending great Grant Fuhr.

“All three of my kids wrote projects about Willie and I know my oldest son sent a tremendous letter in support of inducting Willie and I know for sure it went to the (Hockey Hall of Fame selection) panel,” James said. “It was a long time coming. He was a trailblazer back then and he’s a trailblazer now.”

O’Ree continues to make hockey history with his induction as the first person of color to enter the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for coaches, general managers, broadcasters and others who are regarded as pillars of the game.

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O’Ree is credited with growing the game and creating a new generation of players and fans through his work as the NHL’s diversity ambassador and the “Hockey is for Everyone” program.

ORee played in 44 NHL games following his January 18, 1958 debut with the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal. Despite the brevity of his NHL career – he had a lengthy and prolific minor league career that lasted  until 1978-79 – he’s earned the respect of NHL players.

“He’s what a builder is right out of the gate – you couldn’t make a better description of a builder,” said Fuhr, who became the Hall’s first black inductee in 2003. “When you see another person of color playing it gives you that thought that you can possibly play. It opens up a big door.”,.

O’Ree and Hefford enter the Hall Monday with New Jersey Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur,  former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers sniper Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. 

The 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony will broadcast live on TSN2 in Canada and NHL Network in the United States.

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Willie O’Ree receives his Hockey Hall of Fame ring and long-deserved honor

10 Saturday Nov 2018

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TORONTO – Willie O’Ree got his Hockey Hall of Fame ring Friday and Pamela Houston got a thrill watching him get it.

“It’s almost like an Obama moment,” Houston, a member of the Ontario Black History Society said. “First black president, first black hockey player, finally getting recognition.”

O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, will be formally inducted into the Hall Monday as a member of the 2018 class.

Willie O’Ree, right, shows off his Hockey Hall of Fame ring after receiving it from Hall Chairman Lanny McDonald (Photo/Courtesy Jeffrey Auger).

He’ll join New Jersey Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur,  former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers sniper Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star  and Canadian Women’s Hockey League Commissioner Jayna Hefford and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman as the Hall’s newest occupants.

The induction ceremony will broadcast live on TSN2 in Canada and NHL Network in the United States.

“This is about the highest award that I’d ever get as far as playing hockey and my work with the ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ program,” O’Ree, 83, said at Friday’s ring presentation ceremony. “I’m blessed.”

Each member of the Hall’s Class of 2018 received generous applause as they received their rings Monday. The clapping was a little louder when O’Ree got his.

“Long overdue,” McDonald told me afterward.

O’Ree has been the league’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.

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.

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He had 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.

He’ll become the third black person enshrined in the Hall, joining Edmonton Oilers goaltending great Grant Fuhr and Angela James, a Canadian women’s hockey superstar who was regarded as a female Wayne Gretzky.

O’Ree will continue his trailblazing ways by becoming the first person of color to be inducted in the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for those who have contributed to the foundation of the game.

His plaque will keep company with revered names like Herb Brooks, the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic men’s team hockey coach, “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcaster Foster Hewitt, Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch,  and Conn Smythe, who built the Toronto Maple Leafs into five-time Stanley Cup champions between 1945 and 1951.

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“Those are some pretty big names, and Willie richly deserves to be there,” McDonald said. “You can build in different ways. You can be an owner who’s a phenomenal philanthropist, a great visionary for his hockey team. Or you can be Willie, who has lived a life of setting an example, and such a great example, for so many young people and so many of the older generation to say ‘Wow, this guy is richly deserving of this honor.'”

Avry Lewis-McDougal, host of “Avry’s Sports Show” podcast and YouTube channel, agreed. Like Ryrerson’s Cummings, he was all smiles Friday as he watched O’Ree receive his Hall of Fame ring.

“It finally means the game is truly growing, it means we’re finally seeing true diversity in the fact we have Willie O’Ree in it (Hall of Fame), women in it,” McDougal said. “It’s incredible because we’ve waited so many years for Willie O’Ree to be in the Hall of Fame – for decades. And the fact that people finally said ‘You know what, this is wrong, Willie needs to be in here’ and the fact that the push finally worked, it’s incredible. It’s great to see.”

Kia Cummings, a 21-year-old Ryerson University sports media senior from Toronto, who interviewed O’Ree Friday as part of a documentary project said she wouldn’t be interested in hockey if it weren’t for him.

“As a Canadian, as a woman of color, as someone who is passionate about  hockey, I wanted to take the opportunity to honor him,” she said. “It’s meeting the person who made your dreams a possibility…I have a passion for hockey that goes so much further. If I want to work within a hockey organization I can do that because Willie did it before 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.

Willie O’Ree, hockey history-maker, tours Smithsonian’s African American museum

04 Thursday Oct 2018

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The history-maker took a walk through history Wednesday.

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player and soon-to-be Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., for the first time.

O’Ree, along with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, saw artifacts and exhibits that chronicle the black experience from slavery to the segregationist Jim Crow period to the civil rights era to today’s times.

O’Ree, the NHL’s diversity ambassador for the league’s Hockey is for Everyone initiative, eyed tributes to game-changers like him, including a statue of a sliding Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Willie O’Ree examines a statue honoring baseball great Jackie Robinson at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo/Anthony Wright/National Museum of African American History and Culture).

“What black people had to go through then,” O’Ree, 82, told me. “We take a lot of things for granted but, boy, if you went through that museum it would open your eyes up – it definitely would.”

The tour left Bettman awed and inspired as well.

“I thought it was amazing,” the commissioner said. “I’m a history buff, there is an incredible amount that I learned, there’s more to be learned, and I look forward to going back.”

Willie O’Ree, left, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman listen to Damion Thomas, sports curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discuss an exhibit in the facility (Photo/Anthony Wright/National Museum of African American History and Culture).

The commissioner noticed one thing that the museum is missing: hockey.

“Among the sports, hockey doesn’t have a presence and, perhaps, we’d like to see one,”  Bettman said. “I think we have a story to tell as well. And most people aren’t aware of that story. And to have an opportunity to tell it as part of the overall museum…having a place among the other sports would not only be appropriate but would be good for people to know.”

Damion Thomas, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s sports curator, said hockey “is an area we would like to collect around and it’s something that we’re planning on doing in the future.”

Thomas was thrilled to have living history in the museum in the form of O’Ree, who became the NHL’s first black player on Jan. 18, 1958, when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

“I love sharing this history with everyone but it takes on a different meaning when you’re able to share this history with a history-maker and to be able to see how he responds to moments that he lived through and how he’s able to contextualize his own experiences within this much larger moment and space in time,” Thomas said.

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

He added: “One great things is that when you come to our museum it helps provide context to a lot of things Willie O’Ree went through and a lot of the challenges that he faced and how different aspects of society responded to those challenges.”

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O’Ree will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, along with Bettman, former New Jersey Devils goaltending great Martin Brodeur,Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star Jayna Hefford.

O’Ree, a 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.

But O’Ree became Hall-worthy for his accomplishments off the ice. He has helped cultivate a generation of minority hockey players and fans by working 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.

O’Ree will become the Hall’s third black member, joining five-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Grant Fuhr and women’s hockey superstar Angela James.

Video by Thomas Mobley/National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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Willie O’Ree’s hockey tree grows another branch with Ayodele Adeniye’s rise

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

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To understand why Willie O’Ree is entering the Hockey Hall of Fame in November as a builder of the game look no further than Ayodele “Ayo” Adeniye.

Adeniye is the latest branch – and a very big one – from the O’Ree hockey tree to bear fruit.

U of Alabama-Huntsville 2020 hockey commit Ayodele Adeniye.

The 6-foot-5 defenseman from Columbus, Ohio, committed last week to play for the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, an NCAA Division I team in the  Western Collegiate Hockey Association, beginning in the 2020 season.

In the meantime, he’s headed to Canada this fall to skate for the Carleton Place Canadians, a Junior A team in the Central Canada Hockey League.

The 19-year-old Adeniye said he’s achieving his dreams by following the hockey gospel according to O’Ree.

Adeniye first met the National Hockey League’s first black player when he was six years old and O’Ree visited the Columbus Ice Hockey Club, a part of the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” program.

“In terms of development, he was just a good role model because there are not a lot of (black people) in hockey,” Adeniye told me recently. “He was always the guy I asked questions and looked up to. I picked his brain a little bit.”

Six-year-old Ayodele Adeniye with Willie O’Ree at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit when the Columbus Ice Hockey Club played  in the “Hockey in the ‘Hood” tournament (Photo/Courtesy Ayodele Adeniye).

And Adeniye had ample opportunities to do it. His mother, Lisa Ramos, chauffeured O’Ree around whenever he visited Columbus.

“I probably met him over 15 times,”  Adeniye said. “For me, Willie getting into the Hall, to me, means the world.”

Ramos said her son bonded with O’Ree, in part, because of their shared history with vision issues.

O’Ree only played 45 NHL games over the 1957-58 and 1960-61 seasons with the Boston Bruins largely because he was blind in his right eye, the result of a deflected puck.

That didn’t prevent him from having a long and prolific minor league career, scoring 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games in the old Western Hockey League.

Adeniye suffered from misaligned eyes, a condition that required several surgeries to correct, Ramos said.

“It’s not only the story of him being the first black hockey player, but everything he went through, the issue with his eye,” Ramos told me. “The other thing that Willie does, and it means so much to Ayo, is he always takes time to talk to him. You can see the stars in his eyes when Willie talks to him, even now.”

Defenseman Ayodele Adeniye was cut from the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA hockey program, but worked his way back onto the team (Photo/Courtesy Ayodele Adeniye).

Adeniye, whose father is from Nigeria, got interested in hockey around age three when he attended a skating birthday party at a local rink. He noticed a high school hockey game on an adjacent ice sheet and told his mom that’s what he wanted to do.

Ramos immediately said “no” because “I didn’t know anything about hockey at all.”

“My grandfather played in the Negro Leagues (baseball), my dad won the state in high jump in track and field, he won the state in cross country, he played basketball for the Army in Europe,” she said. “We had all these different sports, and hockey wasn’t one of them.”

Defenseman Ayodele Adeniye practicing with the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA team.

But Adeniye persisted. When his mother put him in a tyke basketball program, he moved about the court in ice skating motions instead of running like the rest of the children. Ramos got the hint.

“My mom  said ‘Whatever,’ put me in hockey, and I fell in love,” he said.

Hockey didn’t always love him back. At one point, Adeniye was cut from the Ohio AAA program. Instead of sulking, he remembered one of O’Ree’s favorite sayings: “If you can, you can. If you say you can’t, you’re right.”

He became a hockey nomad to improve his game. He joined the Cleveland Junior Lumberjacks U16 team of the Eastern Junior Elite Prospects League in 2014-15; the Florida Eels of the United States Premiere 3 Hockey League in 2015-16;  the USPHL’ s New Jersey Hitmen along with the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League’s North Jersey Avalanche U18 squad  and Iowa Wild AAA U18 team all in the 2016-17 season.

He returned to Columbus last season and played 33 games for the Ohio Blue Jackets, contributing a goal and 7 assists from the blue line. He had 30 penalty minutes.

Adeniye patterns his game after Columbus Blue Jackets All-Star defenseman Seth Jones.

Ayodele Adeniye hanging out with his favorite NHL player, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (Photo/Courtesy Ayodele Adeniye).

“One hundred percent. I want to consider myself a two-way defenseman, but I’m more of a defensive defenseman with offensive abilities, just like Seth,” Adeniye said. “He can join the rush every once in a while and he’s a pretty good lock-down defenseman. I try to play the same game. I look at his speed, I watch his positioning.”

He met Jones once and offered the 23-year-old NHL veteran a bit of advice: Watch your back.

“I told him, as a joke, ‘I’m taking your spot,'” he said. “‘Give me about five, six years, I’m taking your spot.'”

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

 

 

 

 

Meet Kim Davis, a hockey newbie on a mission to boost the NHL’s outreach

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

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Editor’s Note: The Color of Hockey is pleased to feature this post written by Erica L. Ayala, a multi-talented New York-based sportswriter, blogger, podcaster, and general media force of nature.  She has her own site, ericalayala.com, co-hosts “The Founding Four,” a podcast that focuses on the National Women’s Hockey League, and has written for Excelle Sports, SBNation’s “The Ice Garden,” FanRag Sports, and The Victory Press.

Earlier this month, the National Hockey League introduced Kimberly Davis as the Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs.  

Kim Davis, the NHL’s VP for Social Impact, Growth Initiatives& Legislative Affairs.

Davis brings an extensive amount of experience from the corporate sector to her new role. Previously, she worked on corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts at firms such as the JP Morgan Chase Foundation and, most recently, Teneo, a CEO advisory firm.

She joins Michele Roberts (Executive Director, NBA Players Association), Lisa Borders (President, WNBA), Katrina Adams (President, United States Tennis Association) – to name a few – as women of color in executive roles in professional sports.

In 2012, Davis was profiled with First Lady Michelle Obama in Essence magazine’s 28 Most Influential Black Women in America. She has been named to The Business Journal’s 100 Most Influential Women and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

As an executive,  Davis is no doubt a first star. How will that translate to professional hockey? The Color of Hockey caught up with the Spelman College alumna on her second day on the job to discuss the league’s diversity and inclusion efforts such as Hockey is for Everyone  and the Declaration of Principles, as well as the state of professional  women’s hockey.

Washington Capitals All Star forward Alex Ovechkin, kneeling, with players from the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, a member of the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone program (Photo/Patrick McDermott).

“I have a lot to learn about about the sport and the game,” Davis said. “I hope that we’ll have a chance to follow up in the coming months and hopefully you’ll see us making some progress in many of the areas that you outlined.”

As with many insider terms, CSR is often perceived solely in the light of companies donating money and other resources to a cause or community. However, Davis is eager to blend her corporate experience with the goals of the NHL to expand CSR to something more involved.

“When people typically think about corporate social responsibility they often digress to the notion that CSR is philanthropy,” Davis said in a phone interview last Tuesday.

“While a part of CSR is clearly philanthropy the concept of CSR really refers to business and societal practices that operate together to benefit a company or an organization like the NHL stakeholders,” she added.

Addressing the societal practices and culture surrounding hockey includes stakeholders such as coaches, owners, players, fans and the greater community.

Even one of those groups is likely to have varied opinions, let alone all of them. However, Davis feels that hockey and the culture it has cultivated is uniquely designed with certain fundamentals already embedded.

“I think that hockey is uniquely in a position because of the attributes of the games – the humility of the players, the leadership that comes from the way the sport is organized and played. I’m hoping to continue to contribute in bridging that societal piece and that business piece in a way that allows the game to grow and expand its fan base.”

However, there are times when the hockey community has fallen short of inclusion for some. From homophobic language to microaggressions in the broadcast booth, the NHL has endured a fair share of criticism in the last calendar year alone. Add to that limited exposure and professional opportunities for the women’s game and the job of corporate social responsibility and community engagement seems daunting.

Yet, embracing the diversity of hockey is something the league seems eager to do more effectively.  In addition to its Hockey is For Everyone initiative, the league has hosted activities that focus awareness on such areas as LGBTQ, ethnicity and gender equality, socio-economic status and people with disabilities.

One such event was the 2017 Willie O’Ree Skills Weekend.  It was there that Davis got her first real exposure to the game. She was working with the league as a consultant for diversity and inclusion at the time.

The skills weekend event is named for O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player. He now serves as the NHL’s director for youth development.

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“I was bowled over with excitement and fascination by the commitment that so many of these coaches and others sponsors and mentors had for the game,” Davis said. “I also have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of kids of color who were exposed to the sport and knowledgeable and fantastic at the sport.”

In addition to the Hockey is For Everyone, the NHL participated in the development of the Declaration of Principles. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and other leaders in hockey unveiled the eight principles in September that state:

  • Hockey should be an enjoyable family experience; all stakeholders— organizations, players, parents, siblings, coaches, referees, volunteers and rink operators — play a role in this effort.
  • All hockey organizations – regardless of size or level of competition – bring value to players and families in their ability to deliver a positive family experience.
  • Hockey programs should be age-appropriate for all players, accounting for each individual’s physical, emotional and cognitive development.
  • All hockey programs should provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment for players and families regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic status. Simply put, hockey is for everyone.

Davis is now part of a team that seeks to bring these principles to life.

Part of the conversation over the past several years has been where women in hockey fits into such initiatives.

Both the professional Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the National Women’s Hockey League have enjoyed partnerships of some kind with individual NHL markets, including the opportunity for the women to play on NHL ice.

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The Bell Centre hosted its first CWHL regular season game last December. Les Canadiennes de Montreal hosted the Calgary Inferno, a rematch of the 2016 Clarkson Cup Finals. This season, the New Jersey Devils announced a three-year partnership with the NWHL’s  Metropolitan Riveters.

These partnerships are important, but have not trickled down to the salaries of female players quite yet. In October, The Ice Garden released salary details for both women’s hockey leagues. Salaries are said to range from $2,000-$10,000 in the CWHL and $5,000-$7,000 in the NWHL.

When asked about the women’s game, Davis said she was unaware of any specific plans. But she noted that “There is a great deal of support and enthusiasm (within the league) about finding new ways to engage women and women in the sport of hockey…” 

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In her first 30 days, Davis is focused on listening and learning from her team in hopes of starting off 2018 on the right foot.

With Davis’ appointment, the NHL has placed a diversity and inclusion expert at the helm. Now, we eagerly await the impact of her expertise on making manifest the words, hockey is for everyone.

Follow Erica L. Ayala on Twitter at @elindsay08 and at ericalayala.com.

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

It’s Wayne’s World for Simmonds as he’s named NHL All-Star Game MVP

30 Monday Jan 2017

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The 2017 NHL All-Star Game proved to be Wayne’s World, and not because former Edmonton Oilers great Wayne Gretzky was behind the bench coaching.

Flyers' Wayne Simmonds goes back to L.A., takes home NHL All-Star-Game MVP honor.

Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds goes back to L.A., takes home NHL All-Star-Game MVP honor.

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds was the star of the game played at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Simmonds scored 3 goals, including the game-winner that gave the NHL’s Metropolitan Division a 4-3 victory over the Pacific Division in a three-on-three format.

“It’s all pretty surreal,” Simmonds said after the game. “It’s awesome. It’s definitely an honor. There’s so many great players in our game today, to be recognized as an All-Star is pretty special to me.”

Simmonds is only the second black player in NHL history to be chosen All-Star Game MVP. Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr – a  2003 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee – received the honor in 1986.

“I think if you look around the game now, you;re starting to see different ethnicities, not only black, but it’s starting to open up a little bit, and that’s the goal here,” Simmonds said. “Hockey is for everyone, so it’s a great sport. I’m trying to be a good ambassador and stuff like that, so it’s great.”

Simmonds serves on the board of directors of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation which was created by the late Flyers owner, Ed Snider, to build lives, unite communities, and teach life skills through hockey.

The All-Star game and the MVP honor was a Hollywood ending of sorts for Simmonds, who was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Flyers six seasons ago. Simmonds wasn’t considered the centerpiece of that deal –  center Bryaden Schenn was.

The Flyers knew they were getting a rugged forward in Simmonds, a reliable player who could chip in a few goals, play on a defensive line, and fight. But he evolved into is the Flyers’ leading goal scorer over the last two seasons.

He tops the team in goals so far this season with 21 and is third on the team in overall points – the combination of goals and assists – with 38.

Simmonds is regarded as one of the NHL’s best close-in scorers, using his wiry-but-solid 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame to screen goaltenders and his quick hands to tap in rebounds or tip in shots from teammates.

Former Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette knew he had a diamond in the rough in Simmonds and knew exactly where to put him on the ice when he arrived from L.A. in 2011.

“I just remember Coach Laviolette just putting me net front on the power play from first practice when I got to Philadelphia,” Simmonds said. “From then on out, it was kind of just something that I relished, and I just tried to make the best of my opportunity. We’re sitting here right now, so so far, so good.”

Simmonds has become a prototype for the NHL power forward position. At NHL drafts, several young forwards chosen – particularly players of color – have said that they model their game after Simmonds’. And some NHL general managers talk about looking for Wayne Simmonds-like players in the draft.