For our group presentation we took a look at how far black players in the NHL have come and what some of the steps these players took to get there. Right off the bat, we noticed that there was a theme of old players saying it was hard for them to get into the game because there was no role model for them to look up to when they were kids.
We tried to look at some other factors too, such as the fact that there is a high concentration of the black community located in big cities. We found that there is a program, Hockey is for Everyone, that is trying to promote the game of hockey and its awareness to these areas. This program provides kids with equipment and guidance for no charge to their families. The goal of the program is to further expand the game of hockey to all people.
To sum up our presentation, we wanted to look at some key players from each era and sort of compare those players to the players of today. It starts out with Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL, who played in 1958. One would have thought that this would pave the way for other players to come into the NHL, but there was 15 years before the next black players surfaced. Mike Marson and Bill Riley were the first black hockey players to be drafted and they played together for the Washington Capitals during the 1974-75 season.
As the years go on, more prominent black players began to surface. In the 80s there was Grant Fuhr, one of the better goalies of his era and 4-time Stanley Cup Champion as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. He teamed up with legends Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier during these years and won a Vezina Trophy in 1987.
The 90s is when the road for dominant scorers began to be paved, thanks in large part to Jarome Iginla. Iginla is most certainly the best black hockey player ever and it is a huge credit to him that we are beginning to see more black players in the NHL today. Without Jarome Iginla I do not think that there would be budding stars like Evander Kane, P.K. Subban, or Dustin Byfuglien. Just this year there was a black defensemen, Seth Jones, who was a possibility to be the number one overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up going fourth to the Nashville Predators and is having a great year playing on the top defensive line. With so many future stars in the league now I think it is only a matter of time before we see even more black players in the NHL.
Brett, Corey, and Brian,
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that you guys had the best topic. I took the most from your presentation. I would have liked you guys went more into depth on black athletes in the NHL. You mainly went over stats and awards, which isn’t a bad thing, but I would’ve liked to learn more about what these athletes over came and how they remain focused in a sport that’s by white males. Although you guys answered my question already I would’ve like if you guys went further into the career of Willie O’ree. It would’ve been great to know why black players followed Jackie Robinson in to baseball but didn’t follow O’ree into hockey. It was also good to know that 3% of the NHL are black athletes. Personally I thought it was under 1%. Besides that, I feel you guys had a very productive presentation.
Anthony Cornwell, Jr.
I'm glad Anthony followed up with these observations. I think this was a great topic, especially since we did not focus much on hockey throughout the semester. I found the website that gives more information about HIFE: http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=48311
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to share about a player from Canada named Herb Carnegie. Here is a link to his story: http://www.maranathanews.com/2012/05/09/a-tribute-to-herbert-h-carnegie/
I remember hearing about him when I taught the Sport History class and one of the students from Canada mentioned that the NHL was debating whether he should be in the NHL Hall of Fame. He actually played before Willie O'Ree.
Dr. Spencer
Brett, Corey and Brian
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your guys' presentation about black players in the NHL. Growing up as a kid it always seemed weird to me that there were no black players in the NHL, and since I was so young it was a little harder for me to realize the reasons there weren't. I learned a lot in your presentation about black NHL players and their history, which was very interesting to me because I had never really looked into that topic myself. For example, the statistics you showed us about Grant Fuhr were very intriguing, because I didn't realize how successful he actually was in the league. I completely agree with you when you say that black players will be more prominent in the NHL in years to come, because you can already see that shaping up to be true if you look at the league and the way its tolerance of everything is changing.
Thank You,
Travis Kash