Tag Archives: New York Rangers

The Black Girl Hockey Club road show continues with N.Y. Rangers visit

03 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

NEW YORK – The Black Girl Hockey Club took Manhattan over the weekend.

The group of women of color and their supporters attended the New York Rangers-Tampa Bay Lightning game at Madison Square Garden Saturday night, visited the National Hockey League’s Manhattan office, and met Commissioner Gary Bettman Friday.

The group also did a walk-through of the American Legacy Black Hockey History Tour –  a 525 square-foot mobile museum that will tour six U.S. cities as part of the league’s and the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s celebration of Black History Month.

“It’s really just fun to see women who look like me, especially women who are older than me, who like hockey. I’ve not seen that,” said Fatou Bah, an events/marketing/social media entrepreneur and die-hard Washington Capitals fan, who attended the weekend’s festivities.

BGHC was founded by Renee Hess, a Riverside, California, woman who sought to gather a critical mass of women of color who, like her, are interested in hockey but might be hesitant to attend games in arenas where minority fans are truly a minority.

The group held its first meet-up in Washington in December a drew more than 40 women and their children from across the country for a game between the Capitals and Buffalo Sabres.

Some Black Girl Hockey Club members take to the ice at Madison Square Garden after the New York Rangers-Tampa Bay Lightning game (Photo/Courtesy Fatou Bah).

The Rangers invited the group to New York and put on the hospitality with a tour of Madison Square Garden, an ice-level view of the team’s pre-game warm-up, and a meet-and-greet with right wing  Pavel Buchnevich and center Vladislav Namestnikov post-game.

The women also spoke with Anson Carter, the hockey analyst for New York’s MSG Network, NBC Sports Network, and veteran of 674 NHL games.

Black Girl Hockey Club members Fatou Bah, left, and Erica L. Ayala check out black hockey artifacts aboard an American Legacy traveling museum parked outside Madison Square Garden last week as part of the NHL’s Black History Month celebration ((Photo/Jared Silber/MSG Photos).

“We’re trying to diversify our fan base, right? And it’s not just with men, it’s women, too.” Carter said. “To see the Black Girl Hockey Club coming and the momentum that they’re getting, it’s getting parents to see other black women that are down with hockey, too. It’s all about the parents, as far as I’m concerned. If you can get the parents convinced and hooked, then the kids are going to play.”

Stephane Clare arrived from Brooklyn for Saturday’s game in the Full Lundqvist – adorned in a blue Rangers jersey with All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s name and number 30 on the back. She was excited to join the BGHC meet-up and have company inside MSG.

Black Girl Hockey Club member Stephane Clare takes a tour of a mobile museum dedicated to black hockey history parked outside Madison Square Garden Saturday (Photo/Jared Silber/MSG Photos).

“Usually I’m the only one at the game – it’s a little better when I go to Islanders games in Brooklyn – but, yeah, at MSG I’m very much in the minority. The more people that get involved with (hockey), off all races and genders, hockey should be much bigger than it is. It’s a great game.”

NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes, rear right, photo bombs Color of Hockey’s William Douglas, Black Girl Hockey Club members and New York Rangers center Vladislav Namestnikov after Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden (Photo/Rebecca Taylor/MSG Photos).

BGHC’s next stop? Nashville next weekend for a February 10 matinee between the Predators and St. Louis Blues.

The Smashville weekend coincides with the National Women’s Hockey League  All-Star Game, where BGHC members will see Buffalo Beauts defender Blake Bolden and the rest of the league’s best players in action.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman with Black Girl Hockey Club member Fatou Bah at the league’s New York office Friday (Photo/Courtesy Fatou Bah).

BGHC mebers will also be in the house at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center February 16 to watch the New York Islanders take on the Edmonton Oilers.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

N.Y. Rangers draftee K’Andre Miller makes U.S. World Junior roster

23 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

University of Wisconsin freshman defenseman K’Andre Miller won’t be home in Minnesota for Christmas.

Wisconsin’s K’Andre Miller (Photo/ David Stluka/UW Athletics).

Miller, 18,  will be in Vancouver after earning a roster spot on the United States team that will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship December 26 to January 5.

Miller, who was chosen by the New York Rangers in the first round with the 22nd overall pick in the 2018 National Hockey League Draft, is having an impressive rookie campaign at Wisconsin.

The smooth-skating blue-liner is the Badgers’ leading scorer with 4 goals and 13 assists in 18 games. He’s tied for seventh in scoring among defensemen in NCAA Division I hockey. He’s also among the nation’s top 50 D-I scorers.

University of Wisconsin freshman defenseman K’Andre Miller is Vancouver-bound for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship (Photo/Greg Anderson/UW Athletics).

“We’ve said from day one that this is a selection process, and as a staff we’re thrilled with the 23 players selected to represent the United States in one of the greatest tournaments on the hockey calendar,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of the 2019 U.S. National Junior Team and also the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. ”

Embed from Getty Images

“By no means did we come to this decision easily, and that’s a credit to the players,” he added. “It’s easy to say our talent pool is deeper than it’s ever been, but so too is the character of these young players, and now it’s time for these 23 selected players to come together and represent our country with pride,” he added.

Miller had an eye-catching collegiate coming out party of sorts with a four-point game – a goal and 3 assists – against Penn State University on Dec. 3. He became the first Badgers defenseman to accomplish that scoring feat in more than six years.

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

 

 

 

 

Dad of Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Daniel Walcott scores on ‘Dragon’s Den’

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Like any good parent, all David Walcott wanted to do was help his child.

After hard hockey games or practices, son Daniel Walcott would regularly complain about sore or heavy legs. Being a hockey dad, David gave his son coconut water – a super-hydrating drink that many athletes swear by to stave off cramps and reduce lactic acid buildup in their bodies.

Prodr8 drink creator David Walcott.

Only two problems: Daniel hated the coconut taste and the drink disagreed with his stomach.

So David embarked on a years-long mission to make the perfect coconut water sports drink to satisfy Daniel, a defensive prospect in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization.

That mission led the Walcotts last month to CBC’s “Dragon’s Den,” where David successfully pitched two of the Canadian show’s stars to invest $150,000 in Prodr8, the flavored coconut water sports drink that he developed for Daniel.

“This was my draft, in a way,” David Walcott said of his appearance on Canada’s version of “Shark Tank.” “Daniel got drafted, now I got drafted. We’re kind of a bunch of guys that have these huge ambitions and we’re kind of in the beginning of all these dreams. It’s nice when each one of us gets validation to go on to the next level.”

David Walcott, left, Syracuse Crunch defenseman Daniel Walcott with brothers Karl and Chad Walcott make their product pitch on CBC’s “Dragon’s Den” (Photo/CBC).

David is in Calgary as a member of District Ventures, one of Canada’s top accelerator programs for packaged goods. District Ventures Accelerator is part of a support system that delivers capital, mentoring and marketing to innovative CPG companies.

Founded by “Dragon’s Den” cast member Arlene Dickinson, District Ventures Accelerator, District Ventures Capital, and Venture Communications helps turn successful companies into globally respected brands.

David intends to use the “Dragon’s Den” money and the Calgary training to re-brand Prodr8, shifting its manufacturing operations from the U.S. to Canada and relaunching the product in March.

“This is going to be my retirement, my swan song, so I’m going to put everything I got into this, not just for the fact that I loved it because it was something I did because of my passion for my son,” David said. “I recognized that there was a possibility or opportunity in potentially creating something for Daniel and filling a void at the same time because of the entrepreneur craziness in my head.”

The cast of CBC’s “Dragon’s Den.” Left to right, Jim Treliving, Michele Romanow, Vicenzo Guzzo, Arlene Dickinson, Lane Merrifield, and Manjit Minhas (Photo/CBC).

Hockey people aren’t strangers to “Dragon’s Den.” Retired National Hockey League tough guy Donald Brashear appeared on the show in 2016 and struck a $500,000 deal for Brash87, a low-cost hockey stick company he created.

The nod from the two Dragons last month toward David Walcott’s fledgling business couldn’t have come at a better time for the Quebec native.

A divorced father with three sons, David struggled to make ends meet while guiding Daniel through the pricey world of competitive youth hockey.

He’s worked as an Uber driver in Chicago and Tampa over the years to help pay the bills. When Daniel attended the 2014 NHL Draft in Philadelphia, David slept in his car to save money.

The father’s sacrifices aren’t lost on the son.

Daniel Walcott (Photo/Syracuse Crunch).

“I know it’s been a long journey,” said Daniel, 24. “I lived with my dad in Chicago when I played there. We moved to an area where I could play for a good high school hockey team where it wasn’t the cheapest area to live in. We made it work. I owe him a lot.”

The New York Rangers selected Daniel in the fifth round with the 140th overall  pick of the 2014 draft from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Before that, he played club hockey at small Lindwood University near St. Louis.

The Rangers traded the 5-foot-11, 174-pound defenseman to the Lightning in 2015 in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick that year. Daniel has played for the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, since the 2015-16 season.

A pre-season shoulder injury has kept Daniel off the ice so far in 2018-19. He hopes to return to the Crunch line up in February or March.

A shoulder injury has kept Syracuse Crunch defenseman Daniel Walcott out of action so far this season (Photo/Syracuse Crunch).

Daniel was on the ice last season when the Crunch went on a lengthy winning streak, a run that he half-jokingly says was fueled by the cases of Prodr8 his dad sent to the team.

“We started the season kind of slow, like we did this year, we got our shipment of Prodr8 later in the season, and as soon as we got it we were on an 11-game winning streak,” Daniel said. “It was the boost we needed.”

It certainly gave David Walcott a boost.

“They went on a winning streak, and I took full credit for it!” he said.

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

K’Andre Miller Broadway-bound as N.Y. Rangers take him in 2018 NHL Draft

23 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

DALLAS – K’Andre Miller enjoys being a myth-breaker. Now he’ll get a chance to do it on Broadway.

Miller, a smooth-skating defenseman with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, was selected by the New York Rangers with the 22nd overall pick of the 2018 National Hockey League Draft in Dallas Friday night.

The Rangers traded up in the draft with the Ottawa Senators for a chance to grab Miller.

“It means the world to have a team to want you that bad to trade for you,” Miller told reporters. “For them to have that opportunity for me, it’s pretty cool, I’m excited.”

Embed from Getty Images

He’s also excited about the prospect of playing in a diverse market like New York to further help shatter stereotypes about blacks and ice hockey and spread the message that hockey is indeed for everyone.

“Being African-American, the opportunity doesn’t come that often. I worked very hard to be in this position,” he said. “And for all the young kids out there, anything’s possible. I was a kid just a little while ago and to be here really means a lot.”

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, said people sometimes ask if he was a basketball player because of his size and frame.

“It’s always been my motivation to prove to people that no matter what your skin color is, what you look like in general, you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it,” Miller told me last year. “When I see people of color in my community in Minnetonka and Hopkins trying to play hockey, I always go up to them whenever I can and straight-up tell them ‘Don’t listen to what anybody says. Play whatever you want to play, if it’s hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, whatever you want to do. Just do it.’”

Miller, 18, a mobile defenseman, moved up NHL Central Scouting’s draft rankings over the season, jumping to 23rd-best North American skater from 31st at mid-season.

Miller looks forward to playing in the NHL someday. But first he’ll play for the University of Wisconsin, starting next season.

Miller had 7 goals and 17 assists in 50 games. Not bad for a player who switched to defense from forward two seasons ago. He skated for the U.S. at the 2018 IIHF U18 world juniors, scoring a goal and 2 assists in seven games.

K’Andre Miller was exposed to the NHL at an early age, taking part in a commercial for the league when he was 10. With him, left to right, are retired forwards Pat LaFontaine and Neal Broten and former goaltender Mike Richter (Photo/Courtesy USA Hockey).

“I’m a defenseman that’s real hard to play against, offensive-defensive zone,” Miller said.

The Rangers will have to wait a while for Miller’s Broadway debut. He’ll play for the University of Wisconsin Badgers and former Rangers forward Tony Granato this fall.

Embed from Getty Images

Miller traces his interest in becoming a professional hockey player to Minnesota Wild team captain Mikko Koivu.

“For my ninth birthday, I went down to Dallas to watch the Stars play the Wild,” Miller told me last year. “We went down to the locker room after the game and Mikko came up to me, shook my hand, said happy birthday, and asked when the next time I would be at a home game in Minnesota because he was going to try to get me a stick.

“I went back to the rink in Minnesota about two months later and he picked me out in the stands, he had the trainer come up with a stick and hand it right to me,” Miller added. “That was probably the coolest experience I think I’ve ever had with an NHL player.”

Erica L. Ayala contributed to this report.

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

 

USA Hockey hiring of Vanbiesbrouck, stirs memories of Daley racial incident

24 Thursday May 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

USA Hockey hired NHL goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck  as its  assistant director for hockey operations Wednesday, prompting outrage from some hockey fans who remember that he called Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley the N-word in 2003.

Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey’s executive director said  in a written statement that “We are beyond thrilled to have John join our staff.”

“Through his exceptional playing career, what he has done since retiring and his history with USA Hockey, John is well positioned to lead a very important part of our organization and I know he is excited to get started.”

Vanbiesbrouck, who had been serving as general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL, said on the team’s website that he’s “humbled and honored” about taking a top position at the nation’s hockey governing body.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity USA Hockey has given me and the future of hockey in our country.”

He was hired to succeed Assistant Executive Director Jim Johannson, who passed away on Jan. 21 at the age of 53.

USA Hockey told me that the Daley incident “definitely was a topic of conversation in the interview process.”  An official said that the incident “was a mistake which John acknowledged, apologized for and in the end has been an isolated incident.”

The official said Vanbeisbrouck is “in lock step with USA Hockey’s way forward that hockey is for everyone.”

But many hockey fans blasted Vanbiesbrouck’s hiring on social media.

But the former goalie known as “Beezer” also had his supporters.

Vanbiesbrouck called Daley the N-word in 2003 in front of teammates when Daley was captain of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Vanbiesbrouck was the team’s coach and general manager.

The incident prompted the Ontario Hockey League to level its harshest fine ever – $50,000 – against the Greyhounds. Vanbiesbrouck resigned from his positions and sold his shares in the team.

“I think there was an understanding on our part that what occurred was damaging to us in terms of a league and what we try to be,” OHL Commissioner David Branch said in 2003. “We had to respond in a strong, clear fashion to make sure everyone understands we do not stand for this and this is not part of our value system.”

Vanbiesbrouck confirmed to The Toronto Star in 2003 that he used the slur against Daley and acknowledged he had used the N-word  “more than once.”

“My comments were inappropriate and out of character, and I deeply regret my actions,” Vanbiesbrouck said in 2003.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley.

The episode prompted Daley to temporarily quit the Greyhounds. He returned to the major junior team, saying “While I am deeply disturbed by the hurtful and careless comments that were directed at me, I am proud and honored to be a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.”

The incident didn’t hinder Daley’s hockey career. The Dallas Stars selected him in the second round of the 2002 NHL Draft – a year before the N-word incident. He’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has seen action for the Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Red Wings.

Ironically, the Greyhounds and the OHL found themselves dealing with another racial incident last month after Kitchener Rangers forward Givani Smith, who is black, received a death threat and was subjected to racial slurs via social media following the Rangers 4-3 win against the Soo.

A Michigan native, Vaniesbrouck played  parts of 20 NHL seasons backstopping the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils.

Embed from Getty Images

He’s a five-time NHL All-Star who won 374 games, the most by an American-born NHL goaltender. He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 1986 as a member of the Rangers.

Vanbiesbrouck led the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.  He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

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

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

A First Nations NHL player bypassed by history is championed by dogged reporter

14 Monday May 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Like any good journalist, Irene Schmidt-Adeney loves to unravel a good mystery.

But Schmidt-Adney, a reporter for the Ayr News, a weekly publication in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, didn’t realize how deep she would have to dig to try to solve the mystery of Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle.

Henry Maracle, standing, with the N.Y. Rangers in 1930-31.

She wondered why hockey history hasn’t shown love to Maracle, an Ayr product who appears to have been the first indigenous player in the National Hockey League.

Maracle, a Mohawk from Six Nations, played 11 regular season games and four Stanley Cup Playoffs contests for the New York Rangers in 1930-31. He tallied a goal and 3 assists in his short tenure with the Blue Shirts.

Hockey historians regard Fred Sasakamoose as the first NHL’s first indigenous player with treaty status.  Sasakamoose, a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, played 11 games for the Chicago Blackhawks  in 1953-54 without registering a point.

Sasakamoose, 84, was invested in the Order of Canada last week, an honor that recognizes Canadian citizens for outstanding achievement, dedication to community or service to the nation.

Reporter Irene Schmidt-Adeney holds a jersey provided by the New York Rangers with Henry Maracle’s name and number on the back (Photo/Courtesy Irene Schmidt-Adeney/Ayr News).

Sasakamoose is also a member of the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame. the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Prince Albert Hall of Fame and the Canadian Native Hockey Hall of Fame.

“It’s great that he got the Order of Canada, but Maracle should be recognized,” said Schmidt-Adeney, who published her story about Maracle in March after months of exhaustive research. “We’re not going to go out and demand that the Order of Canada come off Fred’s neck. It would just be nice if Henry Maracle was recognized.”

Hockey historians say Fred Sasakamoose became the NHL’s first indigenous player with treaty status when he skated for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54 (Photo/Courtesy Hockey Hall of Fame).

Maracle is starting to get his due, thanks to Schmidt-Adeney’s doggedness. She reached out to the Rangers and obtained two official jerseys, complete with Maracle’s last name and Number 14 on the back.

One of the sweaters will be presented at a ceremony next month to North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton on behalf of the township. Former New York Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald, an Ayr native, and Walter Gretzky, father of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, plan to attend the event, Schmidt-Adeney said.

Plans are being formulated to present the second Rangers jersey to a representative of Six Nations of Grand River, hopefully to coincide with National Aboriginal Heritage Day on the June 21.

In addition, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto asked Schmidt-Adeney for her research on Maracle.

She noted in her March 21, 2018 article that the Hall had biographies for Maracle and Sasakamoose in its data base, but only had Sasakamoose described as indigenous.

So who was Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle?

He was a 5-foot-11 left wing whose professional career began in 1926-27 with the Springfield Indians of the old Canadian-AmericanHockey League. He spent four season with the Indians before he was traded to the Rangers in 1930-31. His hockey exploits garnered racist headlines like “Indian Puck Star” and “Redskin Icer.”

He ended his professional playing career in 1936-37 after skating for the Indians, Philadelphia Arrows, New Haven Eagles, and Bronx Tigers of the old Canadian-American Hockey League, and the Tulsa Oilers of the American Hockey Association. He briefly served the Oilers’ player/head coach during the 1936-37 season, according to HockeyDB.com.

The hockey statistics site says that Maracle played amateur senior hockey for the Detroit Holzbaugh-Fords of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League in 1938-39 

Maracle became a U.S. citizen and worked in auto and tire plants in Detroit. He gave up his Mohawk status in 1955, according to Schmidt-Adeney’s research. Three years later, Maracle died from a kidney disorder in 1958 at the age of 53. He was a produce truck driver living in Dallas, Texas,  at that time.

“It’s interesting that it all happened at the same time,” Schmidt-Adeney said of Maracle becoming a U.S. and relinquishing his Mohawk ties. “What happened? Why did he give up his status? I don’t know.”

So how did history bypass Maracle?

Schmidt-Adeney doesn’t think it was a deliberate slight. She surmises that it was, in part, a result of a dark period of Canada’s history when First Nations youth were sent to residential schools – church-run, government-funded institutions that were established to “aggressively assimilate” students to white Canadian culture.

The schools were unpleasant places where abuse – physical, mental, and sexual – occurred. Residential schools first opened in the 19th Century and the last one closed in 1996.

About 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Metis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools, CBC News reported in 2008.

“People didn’t say they had young children because they didn’t want them taken away,” Schmidt-Adeney told me. “There was that whole issue and there were other issues at that time that Maracle was born that would make him harder to find.”

“It was 100 years ago, we didn’t have the Internet, we didn’t have communication,” she added. “Not only did we not have communication, we had a government that was taking children away. So it’s completely understandable that this information (about Maracle) didn’t come out.”

Also contributing to the mystery of Maracle is the fact that he grew estranged from his family some time after 1939. Schmidt-Adeney said she hopes to learn more from a Maracle descendant who she recently found.

“I reached out to her via email, but no response (yet),” Schmidt-Adeney told 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.

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

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

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.”

“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.

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.

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

 

Anthony Duclair departs the Arizona desert in a deal to Chicago Blackhawks

13 Saturday Jan 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

The desert seemed like the perfect place for forward Anthony Duclair.

He was supposed to be a roadrunner on skates, a key component on a young Arizona Coyotes team looking to resurrect itself from the ashes of losing seasons.

Anthony Duclair moves from the desert to the Windy City in trade.

But the 22-year-old fourth-season player didn’t prove to be a Phoenix rising for Arizona and the Coyotes dealt him Wednesday to the Chicago Blackhawks along with defenseman Adam Clendening for forwards Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin.

Duclair, a New York Rangers 2013 third-round draft pick, was unhappy in Arizona and requested a trade after being a healthy scratch in 10 of the team’s 33 games this season and playing only 13:27 minutes per game when he was in the lineup.

“It wasn’t a decision I made overnight,” Duclair told reporters Friday before skating in the Blackhawks’ 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Chicago. “I didn’t have the leash that others had…Not going to say it was unfair to me, but talking to the older guys on the team, they felt I deserved better. And I thought so, too.”

The Coyotes were only too happy to comply with Duclair’s request to move on.

“It’s gone back for a few years now where the team wasn’t happy with the player and the player wasn’t particularly happy with the team and we worked through some things,  tried a lot of different approaches in a lot of different ways,” Arizona General ManagerJohn Chayka told reporters. “I hope he has success in Chicago and does good things.”

Embed from Getty Images

The trade comes two seasons after Duclair tallied 20 goals and 24 assists in 81 games for the Coyotes. His production dipped in the 2016-17 season to 5 goals and 10 assists in 58 games and he spent 16 games with the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ AmericanHockey League affiliate.

Duclair had 9 goals and 6 assists in 33 games for Arizona this season. The player nicknamed “The Duke” said he was “stoked” about a fresh start in Chicago, a start that found him skating laps in Friday’s morning skate after he was the last player to join a team huddle.

“We had a tough situation in Arizona,” Duclair told reporters. “(I’m) ready to be in a playoff atmosphere. Every game counts.”

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

Art Dorrington, the first black hockey player to sign a NHL contract, dies at 87

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Art Dorrington, the first black ice hockey player to sign a professional contract, passed away on Friday at age 87.

Art Dorrington was a scorer on the ice and a community activist off it.

Dorrington was a high-scoring forward in the old Eastern Hockey League, Eastern Amateur Hockey League and International Hockey League. He played for the Atlantic City Sea Gulls, Johnstown Jets, Washington Lions and Philadelphia Ramblers.

He tallied 163 goals and 157 assists in 345 EHL, EAHL and IHL games. His scoring prowess caught the attention of the New York Rangers. The team signed Dorrington to a professional contract in 1950, but he never appeared in a National Hockey League game.

The NHL wouldn’t see its first black player until forward Willie O’Ree broke in with the Boston Bruins in 1958.

Dorrington was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, but made Atlantic City, New Jersey, his home after his playing days were over. In 1998, he founded the Art Dorrington Ice Hockey Foundation , a non-profit program that gives the seaside city’s low-income youth a chance to learn life skills through the prism of hockey.

His mantra to the kids was “On the Ice – Off the Streets.”

“What he did for the community is second to none,” Stefan Rivard, a retired player from the old Atlantic City Board Walk Bullies of the ECHL team told The Press of Atlantic City. “Art’s thing was always to perform in the classroom and then sports were after that.”

Art Dorrington, left, was the first black player to sign a professional contract. Willie O’Ree, right, was the NHL’s first black player. Both have ice rinks named in their honor (Photo/Tom Briglia/PhotoGraphics).

Dorrington loved Atlantic City, and the city loved him back. In 2015, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian proclaimed March 15 as Art Dorrington Day. In 2012, city officials named the Boardwalk Hall’s ice rink after him.

“He was a true champion,” his daughter, Judah Dorrington, told The Atlantic City newspaper. “He had a major impact on this city.”

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

Hispanic players continue blazing trails in hockey at all levels

28 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Peter Negron proudly wears his heritage on the back of his head.

The freshman goaltender for New York’s Hamilton College has the Cuban and American flags painted on the back plate of his mask, a tribute to his mother who came to the United States from the Caribbean island nation.

“It represents my heritage as a whole,” Negron told me recently. “My mom came over when she was three, so that’s where that comes from.”

The back of Hamilton College freshman goaltender Peter Negron’s mask pays tribute to his mother’s Cuban American roots (Photo/Courtesy Nelson Negron).

Hockey has come a long way since Scott Gomez became the National Hockey League’s first Hispanic player when he broke in with the New Jersey Devils in 1999-00.

Gomez, the son of a Mexican-American father and Colombian mother, retired in 2016, but his legacy continues. The four-team Liga Mexicana Elite launched south of the border in early November. Mexico City will host the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B Qualification in January.

And players of Hispanic heritage are thriving in hockey at all levels, helping to shed the notion that it’s an exclusively-white game.

“It’s not only the Hispanic culture, you’re seeing a lot more African-American players, a lot more Asian players,” Negron said. “I think it just shows the sport in itself is growing. It’s an appealing sport to people of all colors. It’s awesome.”

Embed from Getty Images

Players of Hispanic descent are leading scorers on their teams, like Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, a Mexican-American who’s arguably already the best National Hockey League player from Arizona (sorry, Sean Couturier) in only his second season in the league.

They are team leaders, like Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, a Connecticut-born left wing of American, French-Canadian, and Mexican Heritage.

They are Stanley Cup heroes, like Los Angeles Kings’ Alec Martinez, a defenseman from Michigan who traces his family history to Spain.

They are puck-stoppers, like Canadiens goaltender Al Montoya, who became the NHL’s first Cuban-American player when he was chosen sixth overall in the 2004 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.

Claudia Tellez is one of Mexico’s best women’s hockey players and was drafted by the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s Calgary Inferno in 2016 (Photo/Courtesy RAAG Agency).

They are women, like Claudia Tellez, a Guadalajara born and raised member of Mexico’s national women’s hockey team and a 2016 eighth-round draft pick of the Calgary Inferno of the professional Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

And there are more players behind them, making their way up hockey’s ladder.

New York Rangers Cristoval “Boo” Nieves.

When Rangers fans serenade rookie center Cristoval Nieves  with boos, they’re not critiquing his on-ice performance – they’re calling him by his name.

“Boo” is shorthand for “Bugaboo,” a nickname Nieves’ parents game him. It’s now an affectionate cheer from the Rangers faithful to the 23-year-old, 6-foot-3, 212-pound forward who was a 2012 second-round draft pick.

Nieves, an Upstate New York native of Puerto Rican heritage, has no goals and 3 assists for the Rangers in 10 games this season. He had 6 goals and 12 assists in 40 games in 2016-17 for the Hartford Wolfpack, the Rangers’ American Hockey League farm team.

He was a star at the University of Michigan from 2012-13 to 2015-16, winning a Big 10 championship with the Wolverines in a senior year in which he had 10 goals and 21 assists in 35 regular season games.

Embed from Getty Images

 

After two seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan, Florida-born forward Randy Hernandez has taken his talents to an even colder climate – Sioux City, South Dakota.

Randy Hernandez, Sioux City Musketeers.

The 6-foot, 176-pound 18-year-old right wing from Miami is skating this season for the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League, the top junior league in the U.S.. He has 2 goals and 3 assists in 14 games for the Musketeers.

Hernandez is the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in the U.S. little more than 20 years ago.

Hockey has taken forward Randy Hernandez from hometown Miami, Florida, to Plymouth, Michigan to the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL.

His grandfather, a psychiatrist who arrived in Miami from Cuba via Spain in 1972, ignited Randy’s interest in hockey when he took him to a birthday party at Miami’s Kendall Ice Arena when he was six years old.

University of Maine forward Daniel Perez

Daniel Perez also went to a chillier place when he left balmy Jersey City, New Jersey for wintry Orono, Maine, to play hockey for the University of Maine Black Bears.

A 6-foot-4, 23-year-old junior forward, Perez has a goal and 1 assist in nine games for the NCAA Division I Black Bears this season.

He was a high school and junior hockey star, scoring 48 goals and 41 assists in 86 games over two seasons for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights of the Eastern Hockey League and  39 goals and 27 assists in 65 games for St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City.

University of Maine junior forward Daniel Perez takes charge of the puck in traffic (Photo/Mark Tutuny).

Hockey runs in the Perez family. Daniel’s 16-year-old brother, Stephen Perez, played for St. Peter’s Prep, the Jersey Hitmen of the United States Premier Hockey League, and the Jersey Wildcats of the North American 3 Atlantic Hockey League.

Peter Negron is getting his first taste of collegiate hockey tending goal for Hamilton’s Continentals, an NCAA Division III team that was ranked 10th in the nation in early November.

The 19-year-old joined the team after playing at the Kent School, a Connecticut prep hockey power whose graduates include Boo Nieves, former New York Islanders Head Coach Jack Capuano,  and Boston University hockey Head Coach David Quinn.

Hamilton College goalie Peter Negron.

Negron, who shares Cuban and Puerto Rican roots, caught the hockey bug from Andrew Margolin, a cousin who lived nearby in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Margolin was a goaltender on Boston College’s 2007-08 NCAA Frozen Four championship team before finishing his collegiate career at Division III Connecticut College.

“I remember vividly me always hanging out in his room and him putting me in the net to shoot the mini-hockey ball,” Negron said. “I remember always going in his basement, seeing all the goalie gear and really being into it. It always intrigued me.”

Peter Negron played high school hockey at the Kent School in Connecticut. So did New York Rangers center “Boo” Nieves.

Just as the game intrigued Scott Gomez, the NHL’s first Hispanic star. Gomez isn’t a player anymore, but he’s still in the game as an assistant coach this season with the New York Islanders.

“This is what I know and this is what I want to be a part of,” Gomez told NHL.com in May. “To be able to give back and work with guys and see it on the ice…I’m definitely excited about that.”

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