TheColorOfHockey

~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color

TheColorOfHockey

Tag Archives: NHL Network

Viva Las Vegas! Fun times at NHL Awards

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2018 NHL, Anson, Blake Bolden, Carter, Damon Kawme Mason, Kim Davis, NHL Network

Had a great time at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas Wednesday and ran into some fun folks, who took time to pose for this class photo.

Front row seated, Kim Davis, NHL Executive VP, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs; Blake Bolden, former National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League star; Anson Carter, NBC and MSG hockey analyst. Second row left to right, hockey agent Eustace King; Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player; Damon Kwame Mason, director of the black hockey history documentary “Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future”; Dr. Joel Boyd, Minnesota Wild team physician; William Douglas, The Color of Hockey; Kevin Weekes, NHL Network analyst (Photo/Corinne McIntosh-Douglas)

Front row seated, Kim Davis, NHL Executive VP, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs; Blake Bolden, former National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League star; Anson Carter, NBC and MSG hockey analyst. Second row left to right, hockey agent Eustace King; Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player; Damon Kwame Mason, director of the black hockey history documentary “Soul on Ice: Past, Present and Future”; William Douglas, The Color of Hockey; Dr. Joel Boyd, Minnesota Wild team physician; Kevin Weekes, NHL Network analyst (Photo/Corinne McIntosh-Douglas).

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

 

Share this:

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

Like this:

Like Loading...

‘Saturday Night Live’ skit pokes fun at a black reporter covering hockey. Really?

19 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Anson Carter, Kevin Weekes, New York Rangers, NHL Network, Tarik el Bashir, Washington Capitals

There’s an old saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” served up a heaping helping of flattery on last night’s show.

It featured a skit built on the old “black folks don’t know hockey” premise with Chance the Rapper playing an unhappily cold black New York Knicks sideline reporter filling in for the regular New York Rangers rink side reporter on MSG Networks and not knowing a lick about the sport.

The bit reminded of Tony X, a black man who became a social media sensation in 2016 when he stumbled upon a hockey game on television and delivered his own play-by-play of a sport that he never really watched before.

Even Tony thought the SNL skit had a little him in it.

i need my check @nbcsnl https://t.co/YWi1S0uD70

— Tony X. (@soIoucity) November 19, 2017

I hope @soIoucity got some royalties for this #snl hockey skit.

— FreeCandy #1 Super Guy! (@FreeCandy4_4) November 19, 2017

The skit got rave reviews on social media.

THIS HOCKEY SKIT ON SNL WITH @chancetherapper IM DYING 😂😂 #ChanceOnSNL

— Amanda Adams (@AmandaKA00) November 19, 2017

The hockey skit was hilarious #SNL #ChanceOnSNL

— Blame the Internet ♎ (@indiana85) November 19, 2017

OHMYGOD @chancetherapper's hockey skit on #SNL is KILLINGGGG me "that's wassup" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂😂

— ✨pamela nicole. (@pamelaa_nicolee) November 19, 2017

Within 72 hours, every kid who plays the game will be saying, “Let’s do that hockey.” https://t.co/7WlqGWkPT6

— Al Muir (@almuirSI) November 19, 2017

Let’s laugh, by all means, but let’s not forget – or fall into stereotypes.

There there are several great and knowledgeable black hockey broadcasters in the booth and at ice level. There’s MSG’s own Anson Carter, not a hockey newbie having scored 202 goals in a 10-season National Hockey League career: NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes, a former goaltender who appeared in 348 NHL Games; David Amber, co-host of “Hockey Night in Canada’s” Saturday late game; Tarik el Bashir who appears on Washington Capitals broadcasts on NBC Sports Washington;  and Trevor Thompson, who works Detroit Red Wings games for Fox Sports Detroit.

And, oh yeah, even black rappers know a thing or two about ice hockey.

SNL also had a musical skit with Chance the Rapper and cast members Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd crooning “Come Back Barack,” a homage to former President Barack Obama.

I thought the Second City comedy troupe’s “We’re Going to Miss You Barack” skit  from its “Black Side of the Moon” show last year was better.

So come back Barack.
We didn’t know just what we had.
Now things are looking bad.
Like really bad.
Like World War bad.
Like nuclear bad#ComebackBarack#ChanceOnSNL#SNL pic.twitter.com/YQ9KG6ZNJa

— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) November 19, 2017

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

Share this:

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

Like this:

Like Loading...

USHL’s Everett Fitzhugh wants to rock the mic as an NHL play-by-play radio voice

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

David Amber, Detroit Red Wings, Evander Kane, Everett Fitzhurgh, Hockey Night in Canada, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Weekes, NHL Network, Wayne Simmonds

Everett Fitzhugh wants to be The Voice – the guy who shouts “goal!” when the home team puts the biscuit in the basket, the person who vocally paints a Picasso of what’s happening on the ice during a hockey game for those who can’t catch it at the arena or watch it on TV.

Fitzhugh aspires to be a National Hockey League radio play-by-play announcer, a career path not normally associated with 25-year-old African-American men. But Fitzhugh, a Detroit native who grew up spending cold winter nights listening to Ken Kal broadcast Detroit Red Wings games and lazy summer evenings hearing Ernie Harwell do Detroit Tigers baseball, is on a mission to join the small but growing club of NHL broadcasters of color.

Calling Bowling Green hockey games while a student stoked USHL's Everett Fitzhugh's interest in being an NHL radio announcer.

Calling Bowling Green hockey games while a student stoked USHL’s Everett Fitzhugh’s interest in being an NHL radio announcer.

He watches David Amber and Kevin Weekes on CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada,” and former NHLers Anson Carter and Jamal Mayers on NBC Sports Network and NHL Network’s nightly “NHL on The Fly” highlights show and thinks to himself “See you soon, dudes.”

“I think that’s going to be me in 15, 20-plus years, however long it takes,” Fitzhugh told me recently.  “This has been a dream of mine to work in sports, to work in media, since I was seven years old. I didn’t know I wanted to strictly work in hockey until I was in college. But I see those guys on TV and it gives me hope that what I’m doing will eventually pay off. It gives me hope that I can be on ESPN one day and I can become an NHL radio play-by-play man, which is my ultimate goal.”

In the meantime, Fitzhugh is busy paying his dues. He attended Bowling Green State University – alma mater of Pittsburgh Penguins and U.S. Olympics men’s hockey team Head Coach Dan Bylsma – and did radio play-by-play for 120 games for the NCAA Division I Falcons men’s hockey team.

He joined the United States Hockey League in 2012 and is manger of communications for the nation’s top junior hockey league that serves as a stepping-stone to college hockey or the NHL for many players.

Working out of Chicago, Fitzhugh handles the USHL’s social media entries, press releases, YouTube posts and video highlights. The job often gets him out of the office and into the lock rooms of USHL teams. But more than anything, Fitzhugh wants to get back behind the microphone and call hockey games on the radio.

“People call me weird. We used to joke when I was in school that TV guys do half the work but get twice the money,” he said. “But I love radio. I just love painting the picture. I love being able to describe what’s going on and the art of being on the radio. It’s a difficult job, but when you’re able to master hockey radio play-by-play, for me, that’s the ultimate position in sports.”

Amber knows how Fitzhugh feels. He grew up in Toronto listening Toronto Maple Leafs broadcasts and thought that he, too, might be a play-by-play guy some day.

"Hockey Night's" David Amber sees diversity gains on the ice and in the media.

“Hockey Night’s” David Amber sees diversity gains on the ice and in the media.

But he gravitated to sports reporting instead. Now, he’s the pre-game, between-periods, and post-game presence on Canada’s equivalent of “Monday Night Football.” He’s pleased to see more minorities are on the air talking hockey and more people like Fitzhugh in the pipeline waiting for their break.

“The exposure from ‘Hockey Night,’ I’ve certainly had a significant amount of minority faces – mostly black, but even Indian and Asian – say they’re happy to see it’s (hockey) not so homogeneous the way it was maybe 10 years ago; that there are people of color coming in and being able to lend a voice and face to the sport,” Amber told me recently. “It has been a slow transition, absolutely, but there are going to be a lot of new young guys coming up now.”

And the interest of people like Fitzhugh to work in hockey reflects the increasing number hockey players of color and the growing impact they’re are having on the game from the USHL all the way up to the NHL, Amber said.

“There are more black faces in the NHL than there’s ever been,” he told me. “When you look at the guys who’ve made it now, these are impact players whether it’s (Philadelphia Flyers’ Wayne) Simmonds, we know what (Boston Bruins’ Jarome) Iginla’s been able to do over his career, (Winnipeg Jets’) Evander Kane, (Dallas Stars’) Trevor Daley. But because the position of the players have increased and the position of some of the media members has increased from a minority standpoint, I think success breeds success and visibility breeds more visibility and I think that’s a good thing.”

But old stereotypes still die hard. Fitzhugh says people – both minorities and whites – occasionally do double-takes when he tells them what he does for a living and what his dream job is.

“I’ve gotten snide comments, off the cuff comments “Oh, you’re black, you can’t be in hockey, you can’t do this, that and the other,'” he said. “And I’m like ‘No, you look on TV, we’re growing.’ You look at some of the best players in the NHL – up and coming Evander Kane, if he can ever stay healthy; Jarome Iginla fed (Pittsburgh Penguins’)Sidney Crosby to lead Canada to the Gold Medal four years ago; (Winnipeg Jets’) Dustin Byfuglien was barely left off our U.S. Olympic team this year.”

“Black people, we’re not barely surviving in hockey,” he added. “I think we are staples. We’re contributing  day in, day out to the hockey world on the ice, off the ice, in the media.”

Amber said he rarely gets negative comments about his presence on hockey telecasts. But he recalls getting the odd tweet during his NHL Network days from viewers filled with keyboard courage who’d urge him “to stick with basketball.”

“Nothing crazy, certainly nothing like what (Washington Capitals forward) Joel Ward received after he scored the Game 7 OT winner against Boston (in April 2012),” he said. “But a couple of snide remarks, inappropriate remarks. By and large it hasn’t been a big issue. Living in Canada, it hasn’t been a prevalent issue. In the States, I think it’s still by and large viewed as a white guy’s sport.”

Even among minorities. Fitzhugh says striking up a hockey conversation at his local barbershop can be a challenge.

“They look at me a little weird,” he said with a laugh. “My barbers knows that I work in hockey. When I first told them, they kind of looked at me like I was a science experiment like ‘Oh, you work in hockey?’ I enlighten them a little bit, but hockey’s not a regular topic of conversation when I go to the barbershop.”

But Fitzhugh believes that will change in time because “more and more minorities and people of color are becoming aware of the game.”

“Think if anyone goes to a hockey game, they will be hooked,” he said. “If could have a mission, it would be to take everybody, everyone in this country to a hockey game.”

Or to have folks listen to his play-by-play account on the radio.

Special thanks: to Color of Hockey follower and ChicagoSide Senior Writer Evan F. Moore who first reported on Fitzhugh.

Share this:

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

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Asian & Pacific Islander heritage players on 2020-21 team rosters in pictures
  • Meet the Black players on NCAA women’s hockey rosters in 2020-21
  • Jaden Lindo adds new chapter to ‘Soul on Ice’ by winning hockey championship
  • Sarah Nurse seeks gold at IIHF world championship after winning Olympic silver
  • Hockey Family Photo Album, Page 2

Archives

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

Categories

  • John Tortorella
  • nhl.com
  • Uncategorized

Hockey Links

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

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: