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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

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Bill Guerin, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, Henry Boucha, Hockey is for Everyone, Neal Henderson, New Jersey Devils, Scott Gomez, United States Hockey Hall of Fame

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.

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

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New Jersey Devils hire former NHLer Mike Grier as an assistant coach

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Buffalo Sabres, Frantz Jean, Leo Thomas, Mike Grier, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Paul Brathwaite, Paul Jerrard, Peter Worrell, Scott Gomez

The New Jersey Devils hired former National Hockey League forward Mike Grier as an assistant coach Monday, adding to professional hockey’s minority coaching ranks.

A Detroit native, Grier played 1,060 NHL games as a right wing from 1996-97 to 2008-09 for the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, and San Jose Sharks.

A 1993 St. Louis Blues ninth-round draft pick out of Boston University, Grier went on to score 162 goals, 221 assists and accumulate 510 penalty minutes in 1,060 NHL regular season games.

Rugged forward Mike Grier had two stints with the Buffalo Sabres during his 14-season NHL career (Photo/Bill Wippert)

He collected 14 goals, 14 assists and 72 penalty minutes in 101 Stanley Cup Playoff contests.

“We are looking forward to having Mike join our organization,” said Devils Head Coach John Hynes. “Having played 14 years and over 1,000 NHL games as a forward, Mike will lean on his experience in leadership roles to work with our players. He was a highly-respected teammate and had the ability to relate to all players with his personality, demeanor and experience. These attributes will be valuable in communicating and developing our players, as we continue to build a strong culture.”

Football is the Grier family business. Mike’s brother, Chris Grier, is general manager of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. Their father, Bobby Grier, served as director of player personnel for the New England Patriots and was a personnel advisor for the Houston Texans.

But Mike, despite having a football-esque 6-foot-1, 224-pound frame during his playing days, opted for the ice rink over the gridiron.

He became the NHL’s fourth U.S.-born black player. He followed Indiana native Donald Brashear, Maine’s Mike McHugh, and Ocala, Florida’s Valmore James who became the NHL’s first African-American player when he debuted with Sabres in the 1981-82 season.

James and Brashear were tough guys, on-ice enforcers known more for their fists than their scoring hands. McHugh played only 20 NHL games for the Sharks and Minnesota North Stars and scored only one goal.

Grier combined toughness with a scoring touch. He was the NHL’s first African-American player to score more than 20 goals in a season.

At Boston University, Grier notched 29 goals and 26 assists in 37 games in 1994-95 and helped power the Terriers to an NCAA Frozen Four championship. He was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the NCAA’s top men’s hockey player.

Grier played for Team USA at the 1995 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship and won a bronze medal skating for the U.S. at the 2004 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

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“It’s really something that I’m proud of, being one of the first to break through,” Grier told the Color of Hockey in 2014.  “The (minority) players who are coming up now are skill players who are contributing to their teams. It’s only natural to get more kids of color in the game.”

Barring any moves, Grier will be one of six NHL coaches of color when the 2018-19 season begins in October.

The others are goalie coaches Sudarshan Maharaj of the Anaheim Ducks, Frantz Jean, of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Fred Brathwaite of the New York Islanders.

Scott Gomez is on the Islanders coaching staff and Nigel Kirwan serves as a video coach for the Lightning.

Paul Jerrard was the only NHL coach of color to work behind the bench during games last season. The Calgary Flames fired Jerrard in April  and the NCAA Division I University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks hired him in May to be the team’s assistant coach.

Former NHL pugilist Peter Worrell was hired earlier this month as an assistant coach for the Fayetteville Marksmen of the South Professional Hockey League.

In May, the SPHL’s Macon Mayhem named Leo Thomas its head coach, making him the only black professional hockey head coach in North America.

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

 

 

 

 

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Touted prospect Quinton Byfield drafted first overall by OHL’s Sudbury Wolves

08 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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New Jersey Devils, Ontario Hockey League, Steven Stamkos, Sudbury Wolves, Tampa Bay Lightning, Taylor Hall

Congratulations to Quinton Byfield for being the first overall pick Saturday in the Ontario Hockey League’s Priority Selection draft.

The 15-year-old center from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, was chosen by the Sudbury Wolves after he put up monster numbers for the York Simco Express, a minor midget AAA team, in the 2017-18 season: 48 goals and 44 assists in 34 games.

Quinton Byfield’s combination of size and scoring touch made him an easy Number One draft choice for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Byfield will enter the OHL sporting gaudy minor midget numbers. He averaged 2.71 points per game, third-best in the Eastern AAA Minor Midget Hockey League’s recent history.

Only forwards Steven Stamkos (2.98) of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Taylor Hall (2.88) of the New Jersey Devils had better marks in their minor midget careers.

“He is an exceptional player with a great future and his potential is amazing and our coaching staff is eager to work with him,” Rob Papineau, the Wolves’ vice president of hockey operations and general manager said of the 6-foot-4, 203-pound Byfield. “Our scouting staff has been unanimous on Quinton as the best player in the draft all season and we know that the fans and people of Greater Sudbury are going to love the opportunity to watch such a special player in a Wolves uniform.”

The #Wolves are proud to announce that we will be selecting Quinton Byfield 1st overall in the 2018 #OHL Priority Selection presented by @RealCdnSS tomorrow at 9am! –> Read More: https://t.co/9Ciehy90eK #OHLDraft pic.twitter.com/DF9Gip8dUE

— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) April 6, 2018

Byfield said he’s ready to go out and prove that the Wolves made the right choice.

“I’ll do good with the pressure,” Byfield told reporters. “It will always be making me want to step up my game, face new challenges and I think it will be great for me.”

Saturday’s draft was merely a formality for Byfield. He knew that he’d be Sudbury’s pick and addressed the media about it on Friday.

“It feels really great, especially coming to Sudbury, it’s a great organization, great staff and everything, I feel like it will be a great fit for me playing with all the great players they have here,” he told reporters Friday.

The Wolves are a major junior team in the OHL, a 20-team league where young players showcase their talents in hopes of being drafted by a National Hockey League team once they turn 18 or older.

Quinton Byfiled says he thrives under pressure. The Number One overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection Draft will get to prove that for the Sudbury Wolves (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

“We put in place a goal to be a Memorial Cup contender with our mission being to develop 15-year-old boys into professional gentlemen of character when they leave our program,” Wolves Owner and Governor Dario Zulich said in a statement. “Quinton represents a significant step forward.”

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

 

 

 

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

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Boston Bruins, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jarome Iginla, Los Angeles Kings, Malcolm Subban, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Pierre -Edouard Bellemare, T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals

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.

A look at the 2017 Expansion Draft rules https://t.co/lFspa7bG3e via @NHL

— Patrick Frithiof (@Barbabrorsan) April 16, 2017

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.

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Claude and Cassandra Vilgrain, like father, like daughter hockey duo

24 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Cassandra Vilgrain, Chicago Blackhawks, Claude Vilgrain, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, University of New Hampshire, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals

The hockey gene kicked in for Cassandra Vilgrain on Feb. 21, 2002.

After watching the Canadian women’s hockey team beat the United States 3-2 for the Gold Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City on television, Cassandra was overcome by a sensation that she never felt before – the sudden urge to play the game.

“I was figure skating and dancing and all that kind of stuff. I just went to my dad one day, me and my friend, after they won the gold and I said ‘I want to play hockey,'” Cassandra told me from the family home in Calgary, Alberta. “He was kind of taken aback and said ‘Oh, really? That’s great.'”

Dad is Claude Vilgrain, who played 89 National Hockey League games for the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia

Claude Vilgrain watches daughter, Cassandra, play hockey and reflects on his career.

Claude Vilgrain watches daughter, Cassandra, play hockey and reflects on his career.

Flyers, skated in eight North American and European hockey leagues, and played for Canada in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

From her 2002 hockey epiphany, to a newbie barely able to stick handle on ice, Cassandra is now a forward for the University of New Hampshire’s NCAA Division I women’s hockey team. She tallied 9 goals and 8 assists in 32 games for the Wildcats last season. She got to Durham, N.H., through good hockey genes and good coaching – both courtesy of Dad.

“My first year of hockey there was no coach and my dad was like ‘Oh, I might as well do it since I’m going to be there anyway,'” Cassandra recalled. “He was really good. He taught me everything I know.”

Claude admits he wasn’t so sure when he first saw his daughter play.

Cassandra Vilgrain wants to go from watching the Winter Olympics on TV  to playing in one.

Cassandra Vilgrain wants to go from watching the Winter Olympics on TV to playing in one.

“I watched her first couple of practices and she could hardly move the puck,” he recalled. “A Thursday I wasn’t there I got a call from my wife, Janet, and she said ‘You should have seen her, she’s flying out there. She’s like Mario Lemieux, blah, blah, blah.’ I said ‘What are you talking about, she can hardly move.’ But Cassandra’s always been a quick skater, a quick learner. She was always the hardest-working player on the ice and still is.”

Having a dad who’s an ex-NHL player as a coach is a plus. Having three former NHLers as coaches is a bonus. Claude had a volunteer parent-coaching staff on Cassandra’s girls teams that included Ron Sutter, – a forward who played for 555 games for the Flyers, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and other teams, and Kevin Haller, a defenseman who logged 642 games for the Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and others squads during his NHL career.

“I guess I didn’t realize how cool it actually was, all the experience I got to grasp from them, but I think it definitely helped my game,” Cassandra said. “The best part was, yes, they were parent coaches, but we weren’t their daughters when we were on the ice or on the bench. We were treated the same, professionally, and we learned the game well.”

UNH's Cassandra Vilgrain has her dad's game and number.

UNH’s Cassandra Vilgrain has her dad’s game and number.

As a tribute to her father, Cassandra wears Number 19 at UNH, the same number Claude wore during his NHL career. It gives Claude that “Mini-Me” feeling when he watches Wildcats games online back home in Calgary.

“I see her go on the ice, Number 19, and she turns around and I can see ‘Vilgrain’ on the back, it’s like a ‘Little Claudie’ out there,” he said.

“With a ponytail,” Cassandra added.

“With a ponytail,” Claude chuckled.

 Hairstyle aside, father and daughter say they see similarities in their games, which Cassandra credits to bloodlines and coaching.

“I’m like a playmaker and my dad was always a really good playmaker, passer, kind of a power forward, a force to be reckoned with, kind of hard to knock off the puck,” she said. “I think that’s what I see in my own game.”

While Claude revels in his daughter’s hockey accomplishments, he says he’s just now beginning to fully grasp the significance and impact of his hockey career.  Though raised in Quebec, Claude Vilgrain is the only NHL player born in Haiti – Port-au-Prince in 1963. He became a high-scoring forward for the Laval Voisins of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the University of Moncton, and Canada’s national team in an era before NHL players participated in the Olympics.

Vilgrain played for the Devils, Flyers, and Canucks in his NHL career.

Vilgrain played for the Devils, Flyers, and Canucks in his NHL career.

“One of the first times I realized the impact I had was when I was playing in Switzerland, I got invited to play in the Spangler Cup for Team Canada,” he recalled. “They invited a couple of college kids to play with us. One of those players was Jamal Mayers (who played for the Blues and Chicago Blackhawks before retiring last year), he was a young kid, about 20 then. We were fixing our sticks before the first practice and he came to me and said ‘Hey, Claude, you’re our idol. My friend and I, we were watching you every game when we were playing in the states and it’s an honor playing with you.’ It never dawned on me that there might be some kids watching me. I was a little oblivious to the whole thing.”

By the time Claude made his debut with the Canucks in 1987-88, fellow black players Willie O’Ree, Mike Marson, Bill Riley, Tony McKegney, Grant Fuhr, Val James and Ray Neufeld had preceded him in the NHL. The trail they blazed was still a bumpy one for Claude. By the time he ended his NHL career with the Flyers in 1993-94, Claude totaled 21 goals, 32 assists and 78 penalty minutes in 89 games.

“When I played it wasn’t that easy. I’m not going to say I had a tough time, especially after talking to Willie O’Ree. I’m never going to complain,” he told me. “But I know every time I stepped on the ice, the eyes were turned towards me and they were wondering ‘Is this a black kid?’ It was even worse in Europe, especially when I was on the national team. We would play in places like Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Russia. Every time I stepped on the ice, the looks, the cameras, the interviews. They couldn’t believe there were black hockey players.”

Claude said it thrills him to see the growing number of players of color in the NHL today, especially players like Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds who have starring roles on their teams.

“You’re seeing more kids of color choosing the hockey path.” Claude said. “In Europe, I see Swedish black kids on my ex-team in Switzerland. I check the web sites of different teams in the German league where I played and I see black kids playing, the same thing in junior hockey.”

Cassandra wants to follow in father Claude's skates and play for Canada.

Cassandra wants to follow in father Claude’s skates and play for Canada.

As for Cassandra’s hockey path, both father and daughter hope she’ll follow in the old man’s skates and play for Canada in the Winter Olympics. Cassandra’s still jazzed about 2002 – and about the Gold Medal Canada’s women won at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi – and craves the Olympic experience.

She’s building the credentials: she was assistant captain for Team Alberta at the 2012 Canadian Nationals Under-18 competition and was a member of  the 2011 Team Alberta squad. But she’s yet to receive an invitation to Hockey Canada’s women’s juniors or Olympics prospects camps.

“I wouldn’t say that I was overlooked, but I feel like I could have made an impact in those (Hockey Canada) programs already,” Cassandra said. “I’m hoping to make the Under-22 program and then drive for the Olympics.”

Cassandra's hoping to make an impression at UNH and with Hockey Canada.

Cassandra’s hoping to make an impression at UNH and with Hockey Canada.

Claude said “It’s a little surprising that she never got invited for the U-18 type of thing” but added that “As a former national team member, I won’t mention anything. It’s up to her to find a way. She just has to work harder and make them notice her.”

Cassandra says she’s up for the challenge.

“I just always tell myself I’m going to give them no excuse not to invite me,” she said. “I’m going to play my hardest, do the best I can, and hopefully they see something in me and invite me next year or the year after.”

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John Paris, Jr., and Uriah Jones: Two hockey generations paying it forward

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Atlanta Thrashers, Bryce Salvador, Chicago Blackhawks, International Hockey League, John Paris, Jr., Life University, New Jersey Devils, University of Toronto Varsity Blues

It’s rare in today’s way-too-busy world to receive a thank-you note – especially from a younger to an elder.

So John Paris, Jr., was pleasantly surprised and gratified when he recently received a message of appreciation via Facebook from Uriah Jones, thanking him for making hockey history.

In 1994, Paris guided the now-defunct Atlanta Knights to the International Hockey League championship and became the first black coach in professional hockey to win a title. Jones, an Atlanta native who works for the Chicago Blackhawks’ youth hockey program, wanted Paris to know what that feat meant to him.

Former Atlanta Knights Coach John Paris, Jr.

Former Atlanta Knights Coach John Paris, Jr.

“I just told him that his contribution to hockey and the things that he’s gone through is inspiring to me as a minority and aspiring coach,” Jones told me recently. “I just shot him a message of encouragement and just thanking him for being who he is.”

Jones’ note filled Paris with pride, all 5-foot-5 inches of him. He said he’s the thankful one for being remembered and being a role model for someone looking to make hockey a career.

“I should be thanking him because if he’s working within the (Blackhawks) organization regardless of whatever the role he’s in – if he saw me doing it and that pushed him to do it, the credit goes to him because he had enough gumption to get up, go out and get the job,” Paris told me.

It doesn’t seem like nearly two decades since he took the Tampa Bay Lightning farm team stocked with young players and seasoned veterans to the IHL’s Turner Cup, Paris said. And it didn’t feel like history in the making when the game clock hit zero and the Knights dispatched the Fort Wayne Komets 4 games to 2 to win the trophy.

“I wasn’t there to be the first black hockey in pro hockey, I was there because I was offered a position,” Paris told me. “What I realized afterwards was the significance of it. You look at (Barack) Obama, who’s president of the United States, and say ‘Well, we can do it.’ Later on, I realized I did open a door.”

But it was slow in opening. Paris, 67, grew up playing hockey in Windsor Nova Scotia.

Uriah Jones was inspired by Paris and aspires to  make hockey a career.

Uriah Jones was inspired by Paris and aspires to make hockey a career.

He played on teams in Quebec’s junior and senior league teams, and played nine games for the Knoxville Knights in the old Eastern Hockey League before shifting to coaching.

He became the first black head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, piloting the Trois Rivière Draveurs and Granby Bisons. But coaching in Quebec – the province where baseball’s Jackie Robinson played before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers – and in the IHL wasn’t a walk in the park.

He was spat upon by fans, had coins thrown at him and the N-word spewed at him. Hate mail and death threats weren’t uncommon.

“There were no coaches I could look to for advice that were of my own culture,” he recalled. “When you’re new at something and people aren’t used to it, then they have preconceived ideas like ‘What’s a guy like that doing coaching?'”

But the abuse didn’t deter Paris. After winning the Turner Cup, Paris went on to coach the IHL’s Macon Whoopee, and later moved to piloting junior teams. Last season he coached the Omaha Lancers, an AAA Under 18 team.

These days Paris is living in Irving, Texas, penning his hockey memoir and developing a program to improve youth hockey coaching, and catching NHL games on TV.

He likes what’s transpired in the game after his historic championship: former Chicago Blackhawks forward Dirk Graham becoming the first player of African decent to coach an National Hockey League team and black players like Bryce Salvador of the New Jersey Devils and Jarome Iginla – formerly of the Calgary Flames, now of the Boston Bruins – having the captain’s “C” sewn onto their jerseys.

He enjoys watching an ever-growing group of minority players like forwards Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers, Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly of the Anaheim Ducks and defenseman P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens and Seth Jones of the Nashville Predators not only surviving but thriving in the league.

And Paris loves watching Kevin Weekes, David Amber, Anson Carter and others talking hockey on “Hockey Night in Canada,” NHL Network and NBC Sports, proving to audiences that minorities in hockey is the new normal.

“Kevin Weekes on TV has opened a whole vast new arena,” he said.

Paris hopes to see more coaches like the University of Toronto's Darren Lowe.

Paris hopes to see more coaches like the University of Toronto’s Darren Lowe.

Paris says the next phase is to get more minorities behind the bench and in the front offices of hockey teams. They have been few minority coaches in the NHL. Craig Berube, of Native American/First Nation roots, was recently named coach of the Philadelphia Flyers; Graham led the Blackhawks during the 1998-99 season; Ted Nolan, an Ojibwa Native American/First Nation steered the Buffalo Sabres from 1995 to 1997; and Darren Lowe, the first black to play on a Canadian Olympic hockey team, has coached the University of Toronto Varsity Blues since the 1995-96 season.

“I want more guys look at coaching instead of playing and looking at the executive side,” Paris said. “That’s just normal progression.”

And Paris hopes that Uriah Jones will someday be part of that progression.

Jones, 31, says he got hooked on hockey the minute he started playing floor hockey in Georgia. He eventually progressed to ice and played on suburban Atlanta’s Life University hockey team, a Division 3 American Collegiate Hockey Association club team coached by former Atlanta Flames goaltender Dan Bouchard.

He landed a job in the hockey development department of the Atlanta Thrashers, helping to grow the sport in the Peach State. But the job ended when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets.

Hockey may have left Atlanta but it didn’t leave Jones. After the Thrashers up and left, Jones packed his bags – for Chicago. There, he found work with the National Basketball Association Chicago Bulls on their equipment staff.

With the Bulls sharing Chicago’s United Center with the Blackhawks, Jones inquired through NHL headquarters in New York and friends in the hockey world about whether there were any job opportunities with the team.

The Blackhawks hired him shortly after last season’s player lockout.  To say that Jones is in hockey heaven working for the Blackhawks is an understatement.

“This is not a game for me – I eat, breathe and sleep hockey, I’m always talking it, it’s crazy,” he told me. “It’s what I do. It’s me.”

And that makes John Paris, Jr., happy.

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