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

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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

Larry Kwong made hockey history in a minute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Larry “King” Kwong’s jersey to hang in Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Fred Sasaskamoose, Herb Carnegie, Hockey Hall of Fame, Larry Kwong, Montreal Canadiens, Phil Pritchard, Toronto Maple Leafs, Willie O'Ree

Larry Kwong, a Chinese-Canadian player who many believe was the first person of color to reach the National Hockey League, isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

But his hockey jersey will be.

Larry Kwong with jersey sent to Hockey Hall of Fame.

Larry Kwong with jersey sent to Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Hall recently received a  well-preserved 1942-43 Nanaimo Clippers jersey from Kwong, a diminutive scoring dynamo who made hockey history when he skated a single one-minute shift for the New York Rangers against the Montreal Canadiens during the 1947-48 season.  He accomplished the feat 10 years before forward Willie O’Ree joined the Boston Bruins and became the NHL’s first black player, skating against the Habs, and seven years before Chicago Blackhawks forward Fred Sasaskamoose became the league’s first Native/First Nations player, breaking the barrier against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Kwong, in strong voice at 90 years old, told me recently that it feels “wonderful” knowing that the jersey from his senior amateur team will hang in the Hall in Toronto and hopes that it will inspire more Chinese kids to lace up the skates, take up the game, and aim for the NHL.

“I hope it helps other Chinese players coming up,” said Kwong, who was nicknamed “King Kwong” and the “China Clipper” during his playing days. “When I first started, there was some discrimination and it was hard getting a job – I went to quite a few teams – and there was always some discrimination. I hope that this will start something, a ball rolling, and getting more Chinese boys in on the team.”

As thrilled as Kwong is of having a piece of his hockey legacy in the Hall, the Hall is overjoyed to have an artifact from Kwong’s lengthy playing and coaching career.

Larry Kwong's hockey jersey has a new home in Toronto (Photo/Phil Pritchard, Hockey Hall of Fame.)

Larry Kwong’s hockey jersey has a new home in Toronto (Photo/Phil Pritchard, Hockey Hall of Fame.)

“The Larry Kwong Nanaimo Clippers game worn jersey is a great addition to our Hometown Hockey display,” said Phil Pritchard, a vice president and curator at the Hockey Hall of Fame and the white-gloved gentleman who’s the keeper of the Stanley Cup. “Nanaimo has a rich hockey tradition and to have a (jersey) from ‘King Kwong’ adds to the great legacy of the game.”

Kwong’s NHL moment was brief, but the British Columbia native cherishes it as a high point of his playing career.

“I enjoyed it because all my life, when I first started as a youngster, my goal was to play in the NHL,” he said. “At that time I started with the Trail

Kwong back in the day with Nanaimo Clippers.

Kwong back in the day with Nanaimo Clippers.

Smoke Eaters, another senior team, then I went to Nanaimo, and then I went to Vancouver. All my life I wanted to play in the NHL, and then I got that chance.”

The journey of Kwong’s jersey to the Hall of Fame was aided by a 10-year-old boy’s curiosity. Quinn Soon was working on a heritage fair project on the late Herb Carnegie, a black Canadian regarded as one of the best hockey players never to reach the NHL because of his skin color. Quinn interviewed Carnegie’s daughter, Bernice, and Kwong, who played against Carnegie in the Quebec League, for the project.

Quinn remembered unsuccessful attempts to get Carnegie inducted into the Hall of Fame and wondered whether the shrine could make a display to showcase items from Carnegie – and Kwong.

“He realized they would need some memorabilia,” said Chad Soon, Quinn’s father and an educator who has championed long overdue recognition for Kwong. “So he contacted Bernice Carnegie, who agreed to donate Herb’s skates and a bunch of articles and pics. Quinn and I decided to see if we could get Larry in, too. With Bernice’s and Larry’s support, Quinn called Craig Campbell (manager of the Hall’s Resource Centre and archives), who was extremely enthusiastic about the idea.”

Bernice Carnegie says she’s still talking with Hall officials about her father’s artifacts. She believes having items from Kwong, her dad, and other players of color in the Hall is important in order for hockey to visually tell an under-told story.

Kwong's jersey joins Willie O'Ree's stick in Hall of Fame (Photo/Hockey Hall of Fame.)

Kwong’s jersey joins Willie O’Ree’s stick in Hall of Fame (Photo/Hockey Hall of Fame.)

“There are so many people who think they know all about the sport, but they are not really informed about all aspects of the sport and how difficult it actually was for people who were not like everybody else to open those doors,” she told me recently. “I think that actually just having something there to say ‘Here is another part of that wonderful sport’ that people might actually be surprised to know that there were minorities that were good enough to have played there (in the NHL) but just didn’t have that chance.”

These days, Kwong is enjoying accolades. Powered by efforts by Chad Soon and some of his students, Kwong was inducted last September into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. And his jersey adds to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s collection of minority hockey artifacts – memorabilia that includes a game-used O’Ree stick from the 1960-61 season; Hall of Fame goaltender Grant Fuhr’s equipment from his stints with the Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues; and a stick and Washington Capitals jersey from Reggie Savage, a black player who was the first NHL player to score on a penalty shot in his first game. The Hall would love to have more, Pritchard said.

“The Hockey Hall of Fame is always looking for artifacts…equipment, original slides, video, etc.,” he said. “Let us know.”

 

 

 

 

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From Larry Kwong to Brad Kwong, celebrating hockey’s rich Asian legacy

04 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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Atlanta Flames, Boston Bruins, Brad Kwong, Calgary Flames, Canadian Football League, Dubuque Fighting Saints, Harvard University, Larry Kwong, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Norman "Normie" Kwong, USHL

Brad Kwong has gone from the Ivy League to corn country for the love of hockey, adding to the game’s rich Asian history along the way.

Kwong, a defenseman who captained Harvard University’s hockey team in 1984-85, is part of the group that owns the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League, the top junior league in the country. When Northern Lights, LLC purchased the team in 2009, Kwong became part of a growing number of people of color – many of them Asian – in hockey’s ownership ranks, from the junior leagues to the National Hockey League.

“I have the benefit of having some really good partners that helped me get along in this profession,” Kwong told me recently. “I don’t ever recall an encounter where I was compromised or biased because of my ethnicity. And that might be me just having the blinders on or being naïve to it. But I think this sport in particular, because I lived through it, and in business in general, if you prove that you have a certain acumen, drive, and initiative you can succeed in anything.”

Brad Kwong, center, congratulates on of his team's players (Photo/Dubuque Fighting Saints).

Brad Kwong, center, congratulates on of his team’s players (Photo/Dubuque Fighting Saints).

Harvard crimson and business ties run deep through the Fighting Saints ownership: Kwong,  Phillip Falcone, Northern Lights’s principal owner and part owner of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, and Peter Chiarelli, general manager of the Boston Bruins, played hockey together at Harvard in the 1980s. Mark Falcone, another Northern Lights managing partner and a Minnesota Wild board member, played hockey for the University of Denver hockey player. Phillip Falcone is chief investment officer of Harbinger Capital Partners, a Wall Street private hedge fund, and Kwong is a managing partner in the firm.

“Our experience at Harvard actually changed the courses of our lives,” Kwong said. “We all believed that hockey, most notably college hockey, changed the trajectory  of our lives. So we wanted to give back to the sport and college hockey and obviously the USHL being the primary feeder of players to NCCA Division I hockey was a great platform to do that.”

The 50-year-old Kwong may have good partners assisting him in the hockey business, but he also learned a lesson or two from his dad. Norman “Normie” Kwong was a star running back Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. But he was also part of the ownership group that bought the NHL’s Atlanta Flames and moved the team to Calgary in 1980.

When the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, the elder Kwong became one of the few people whose names are etched on both the CFL’s Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup.

“He, of course, back in the 40s and 50s, experienced the racial stuff,” the younger Kwong said of his father, who also served as lieutenant governor of Alberta from 2005 to 2010. “He always just fought through it, never saw himself as different, and just kind of worked hard and achieved a lot, regardless of his race. He always instilled in my brothers and I to just do your best, work hard, and you’ll achieve the goals you set out for yourself.”

 Kwong, front row, center, was captain of Harvard's 1984-85 hockey team (Photo/Harvard University).

Kwong, front row, center, was captain of Harvard’s 1984-85 hockey team (Photo/Harvard University).

Brad and Norman Kwong aren’t the only family members with hockey ties. Graham Lee, Brad Kwong’s cousin, is owner and governor of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League. Lee’s company, RG Properties, built and operates the 7,000-seat Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the arena where the Royals play.

Lee and the Kwongs are part of a history of Asian ownership in hockey. The Tampa Bay Lightning began its NHL life under a Japanese ownership group. Shanghai-born and New York-raised Charles Wang, owns the New York Islanders, an NHL franchise that’s currently up for sale. Chicago-based businessman Horn Chen is a minority owner of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

The media-shy Chen once told The Chicago Sun-Times that he became interested in hockey when his son played in a youth tournament in Indianapolis. That interest launched Chen on a team-buying binge: He founded the Central Hockey League and owned the CHL’s Wichita Thunder, Topeka Tarantulas, Oklahoma City Blazers and Mississippi RiverKings. He also owned the International Hockey League’s Indianapolis Ice, the East Coast Hockey League’s Columbus Chill, the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders (briefly) and several minor league football, baseball, and basketball teams.

Winnipeg Jets forward Devin Setoguchi.

Winnipeg Jets forward Devin Setoguchi.

Asian-American and Asian-Canadians have had an impact on the ice as well. Forward Paul Kayria, who’s of Japanese descent, was the first hockey player of Asian descent to captain an NHL team when he was awarded the “C’ by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.  Defenseman Jim Paek, who’s of Korean heritage,won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1990s. Seoul-born right wing Richard Park enjoyed a long NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks and the Islanders.

Asian players currently in the NHL include Winnipeg Jets forward Devin Setoguchi, who’s Japanese-Canadian, and Carolina Hurricanes forward Manny Malhotra, who’s Indo-Canadian.

Hockey has come a long way since Larry Kwong became the first Chinese-Canadian – and some historians argue the first person of color – to play in the NHL when he skated a single one-minute shift for the New York Rangers  in a game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum during the 1947-48 season. A decade later, in 1958, Willie O’Ree became the NHL’s first black player when he skated for the Bruins, ironically, against the Canadiens.

Hockey has come a long way from the days when Larry Kwong, center,  played (Photo/Chad Soon).

Hockey has come a long way from the days when Larry Kwong, center, played (Photo/Chad Soon).

Larry Kwong, who was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame last September at age 90, isn’t related to Brad Kwong, the two men share a sort of six degrees of separation that causes Brad to chuckle when recalling an episode that happened while he was playing professional hockey in Europe post-Harvard undergrad.

“There was a time in San Moritz, a group of fans came down, said hello, and said they knew my father,” he said. “My father had a reasonable amount of fame in Canada, but I didn’t think it extended to Switzerland. Obviously, it didn’t. They meant Larry, who played hockey in Switzerland at one point in his career. When I was 8-9 years old, he had moved back to Calgary and given that my parents knew him, he offered to teach my older brother and I tennis.”

Brad Kwong believes he’ll have company in the owner’s club in the not-too-distant future as minority players currently in professional hockey get older and transition into the next phase of their careers.

“As the numbers increase you’re going to have more people like me who played the game, who want to stay part of the game, which is my primary motivation, and I would imagine they’d stay involve in some way whether it be coach, general manager, owner, business president, whatever,” he said. “The sport is a fascinating sport. And I think once you’ve been exposed to it, you’re going to get more and more people, regardless of their color, wanting to be a part of it.”

 

 

 

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