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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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Former Florida Panthers enforcer Peter Worrell joins pro hockey’s coaching ranks

14 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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ACHA, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Frantz Jean, Fred Brathwaite, New York Islanders, Nigel Kirwan, Peter Worrell, Scott Gomez, Tampa Bay Lightning, University of Nebraska Omaha

 Peter Worrell punched his way into professional hockey. Now he’s looking to coach his way back to the pros.

Worrell, who accumulated more than 1,500 penalty minutes as a left wing and enforcer for the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche from 1997-98 to 2003-04, was named assistant coach of the Fayetteville Marksmen of the single-A Southern Professional Hockey League last week.

Former Florida Panthers forward Peter Worrell in 2002.

A Panthers 1995 seventh-round draft pick, Worrell quickly turned to coaching after playing his last professional game with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers in 2005-06.

He returned to Florida the following season to become head coach of North Broward Preparatory School. He assumed additional responsibility in 2010-11 when he became bench boss of Florida Atlantic University’s American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division III team.

“When I ended my seasons last year, I made the decision I wanted to explore new challenges,” Worrell said. “I contacted a lot of teams, in many leagues. When I first contacted the Marksmen and I talked to (Head Coach Jesse) Kallechy, it just felt right. It was a big decision for me, as I was comfortable in my previous positions, but everyone in Fayetteville has been so welcoming and first class, I know I couldn’t have found a better position.”

And Kallechy believes that he couldn’t have found a better bench sidekick for the Fayetteville, North Carolina, team than Worrell.

“He blew me away in the interview process,” Kallechy said. “He was an excellent communicator, our views on player personnel aligned, and he is eager to learn and bring fresh viewpoints to the team.”

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Worrell will become the SPHL’s second black coach when the puck drops for the 2018-19 season. In May, the Macon Mayhem tapped Leo Thomas as its head coach, making him the only black professional hockey head coach in North America.

While the SPHL’s minority coaching numbers grow, the ranks of coaches of color in the National Hockey League declined following 2017-18 season.

The Calgary Flames let go veteran Assistant Coach Paul Jerrard, who was the league’s only minority coach to work behind the bench during games.

He wasn’t unemployed very long. The University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks hired Jerrard in May to be an assistant coach for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference team.

“He has a very good track record of developing players,” UNO Head Coach Mike Gabinet said. “I knew, first off, how good of a person he was having played for him. He was my (defense) coach. And when you’re a player, people always ask you afterward who’s influenced you as a coach.”

Jerrard, who played hockey for Lake Superior State University from 1983-84 to 1986-87, said he’s stoked about returning to the college game. He tallied 40 goals and 73 assists in 156 games as a defenseman for the Lakers.

He brings to the bench 2⃣1⃣ years of coaching experience across the NHL, AHL and college hockey. 💪

Get to know Omaha's newest staff addition, assistant coach Paul Jerrard! pic.twitter.com/aRvOUPkGVW

— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) June 8, 2018

“I’ve always loved college hockey, and I’m looking forward to working with and developing our players, not just in their careers but academically as well to help them prepare for success in the future,” he said.

The NHL’s remaining coaches of color 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 Isles’ coaching staff and Nigel Kirwan serves as a video coach for the Lightning.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hispanic players continue blazing trails in hockey at all levels

28 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Cristoval "Boo" Nieves, Daniel Perez, Hamilton College, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Peter Negron, Randy Hernandez, Scott Gomez, University of Maine

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.”

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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.

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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.

 

 

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Hispanic players thriving in pro hockey

30 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Al Montoya, Hispanic hockey players, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Raffi Torres, Raphael Diaz, San Jose Sharks, Scott Gomez, St. Louis Blues

Editor’s note: This story was initially posted in September 2013 and continues to receive hundreds of views per month. So I’ve updated information on the whereabouts of some of the players in the 2015-16 season.

I recently realized that I haven’t fully done my job here at the Color of Hockey when a colleague of mine complimented me about the blog, marveled at the number of black players in professional hockey and the impact they’re having, and wondered if there are any Hispanic players in the National Hockey League.

Not only are there Hispanic players in the NHL, several are thriving. Some have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup; some have played for their respective countries in the Winter Olympics; some have had uneven careers.

And similar to the growing group of black NHL players, more Hispanic players are heading to the league – a testament to hockey’s popularity and a legacy to minority-oriented youth hockey programs across the United States and Canada.

And hockey isn’t strange to Spanish-speaking nations. Spain is ranked 31st in the world in men’s hockey and 26th in women’s hockey by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The European nation has 521 junior players, 197 male players, 205 female players and 18 indoor ice skating rinks, according to the IIHF.

Mexico’s men’s team is 32nd in IIHF’s rankings and its women’s squad is ranked 35th in the world. The United States’ southern neighbor boasts nearly 2,020 players – 243 men, 1,427 juniors, and 350 women and girls. The country has 20 indoor ice skating rinks – more than some cities and states in the U.S.

Veteran Scott Gomez began the 2015-16 season in St. Louis and will end it with the Ottawa Senators.

Veteran Scott Gomez began the 2015-16 season in St. Louis and will end it with the Ottawa Senators.

So to answer my friend Franco’s question, let’s give some love to the NHL’s Hispanic players.

Ottawa Senators center Scott Gomez carries a double dose of pride. He’s proud of his Mexican-Colombian heritage and equally proud of being a native Alaskan.

“You know, growing up in Anchorage, it wasn’t like ‘There’s Scott Gomez, the Mexican hockey player,'” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer  in 2000. “It was, you know, Scott Gomez, the hockey player. People started making a big deal about it as I got older.”

He played with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces during last year’s NHL labor lockout. Through his Scotty Gomez Hockey Association, Gomez gave back to his community recently by having the association take over operating the Anchorage high school girls hockey program, which suffered from poor participation.

“Girls hockey is back,” Carlos Gomez, Scott’s father, told The Anchorage Daily News recently. “Whether it survives is up to the girls and the community.”

Scott Gomez was selected with the 27th pick of the 1998 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils. He joined the Devils in the 1999-2000 season and scored 19 goals and 51 assists, good enough to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie player. He helped power the Devils to the Stanley Cup in 2000 by scoring 10 points during the playoffs and Cup final.

He won another Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2003, scoring three goals and nine assists in 24 games during the playoffs.

Gomez played for the U.S. hockey team in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. The team failed to medal, but Gomez scored one goal and four assists in six games.

In 2007, he signed a seven-year, $51.5 million free agent deal with the neighboring New York Rangers. He didn’t have a successful run on Broadway and the Rangers traded him to the Montreal Canadiens in January 2009. Lengthy scoring droughts dogged Gomez in Montreal and the Canadiens bought out his contract.

He signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks once the NHL resumed play in the

L.A. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez has his name on the Stanley Cup.

L.A. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez has his name on the Stanley Cup.

2012-2013 season. There, he scored two goals and 13 assists in 39 games. Gomez began the 2015-16 NHL season with the St. Louis Blues but signed on with the Senators in March after the Blues released him.

The 36-year-old has 1 goal and 8 assists in 34 games this season.

Like Gomez, defenseman Alec Martinez of the Los Angeles Kings has his name on the Stanley Cup. He earned the honor when the Kings won the Cup in the 2011-12 season. Of Spanish roots, Martinez was born in hockey-mad Michigan but spent most of his youth playing hockey in Northern California before playing for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 2005 to 2008. He was selected by the Kings with the 95th pick in the 2007 NHL Draft.

Martinez notched 10 goals and 21 assists in 78 games for the Kings this season.

Forward Raffi Torres broke into the NHL in the 2000-2001 season with the New York Islanders and he’s been scoring goals and breaking bones – including his own – with thundering hits ever since.

Raffi Torres was dealt from the Sharks to the Maple Leafs. Between a 41-game suspension and injury, he hasn't played in an NHL game this season.

Raffi Torres was dealt from the Sharks to the Maple Leafs. Between a 41-game suspension and injury, he hasn’t played in an NHL game this season.

Torres went without a goal in his 14-game debut with the Islanders, something that has rarely happened since in his NHL career. Since entering the NHL, the well-traveled Torres has scored 134 goals, 121 assists, and a whopping 490 penalty minutes for the Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, and San Jose Sharks.

The 2015-16 season has been has been a difficult one for Torres. It began with a 41-game suspension for an illegal pre-season hit on Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg.

He was also rehabilitating from a knee injury. The Sharks sent him to its American Hockey League farm team, the San Jose Barracuda, in January for conditioning then traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 34-year-old forward hasn’t appeared in an NHL game this season.

“I just want to play,” Torres, whose contract expires this summer, told The Toronto Sun. “I want to get healthy and play. I don’t mind riding buses. I would do that. It’s a pretty good life, making a living playing hockey. I’m not ready to give it up.”

Forward Raffi Torres, right, didn't appear in an NHL game in 2015-16, but he did play a few games with the AHL San Jose Barracuda.

Forward Raffi Torres, right, didn’t appear in an NHL game in 2015-16, but he did play a few games with the AHL San Jose Barracuda.

The son of Mexican and Peruvian parents, Torres grew up in Canada. Torres’ father wanted him to be a soccer player, but young Raffi gravitated towards hockey, Canada’s national pastime.

“My parents came to Canada for a better opportunity,” said Torres. “I grew up with my parents always speaking Spanish to us. We were always eating Mexican food.”

Al Montoya seemed destined to be “The One” – a Hispanic hockey superstar. After all he had the pedigree: the Cuban-American kid from Chicago was a star goaltender at the University of Michigan, where he posted a record of 30 wins, only seven losses, and three ties during the 2004-05 season.

He twice played twice for the U.S. in the International Ice Hockey Federation

Goalie Al Montoya's solid play has helped return the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Goalie Al Montoya’s solid play has helped return the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

World Junior Championship and backstopped the U.S. squad to a Gold Medal at the 2004 tournament in Finland.

The New York Rangers took Montoya with the sixth pick in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.  Montoya post good numbers with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ AHL farm team. He was 64-34-4 with Hartford in three AHL seasons.

But his path to Madison Square Garden was blocked by the rise of all-world Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who the Rangers took with the 205th pick in the 2000 draft.

In 2008, the Rangers traded Montoya to the Arizona Coyotes, where he posted a 3-1 record in five games. After a stint with the San Antonio Rampage, Arizona’s AHL team, Montoya was traded to the New York Islanders in the 2010-11 season. He won nine games for the lackluster Isles that year. More important, he posted a sparkling .921 save percentage.

In the 2012-13 season, Montoya signed with the Winnipeg Jets where he want 3-1-1 in seven games and settled in nicely as the backup goaltender to Ondrej Pavelec. Feeling like he’s finally found a home, Montoya happily re-upped with team for the 2013-14 season.

“I really enjoyed my time last year,” Montoya said after re-signing in April. “This is a good group, it’s a good team and we came so close last year. The city is great, my family likes it and I think this team is moving in the right direction.”

But then South Florida came calling and Montoya signed with the Florida Panthers in the 2014-15 season. So far this season, Montoya has posted a 12-6 record with a 2.13 goals-against average serving as Roberto Luongo’s backup.

When you hear the name Raphael Diaz, the last things that you probably think of are the Alps and fondue. But Diaz, a defenseman with the Canadiens, hails from Switzerland. His mother is Swiss, his father a Spaniard.

Defenseman Raphael Diaz patrols the blue line for the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack (Photo/Chirs Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack).

Defenseman Raphael Diaz patrols the blue line for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack (Photo/Chirs Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack).

“I visited my family in Corunna, which is in the northwest region near Portugal,” Diaz told Canadiens.com last year. “The food there was amazing: tapas, paella, tortillas. I love to visit my dad’s family at least once a year.”

Diaz netted a goal and 13 assists for Montreal in a lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. The third-year defenseman represented Switzerland in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and he’s a strong candidate to wear the Swiss red cross crest again at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

He has spent most of this season in the AHL playing for Hartford, where he’s notched 6 goals and 14 assists in 35 games for the Wolf Pack.

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