Black players in ice hockey

The history of black players in North American ice hockey has roots dating back to the late 19th century. The first black ice hockey star was Herb Carnegie during the Great Depression. Willie O'Ree broke the NHL's black color barrier with the Boston Bruins.^{[NB 1]}

Coloured Hockey League

The Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes began in 1895, as an initiative of black Baptist churches in Nova Scotia.^[1] The aim was to increase and retain male membership. The league consisted of teams from Halifax, Africville, Hammond's Plains, Dartmouth, Truro, Amherst and Charlottetown, P.E.I.^[1] All games were on an invitational basis with the trophy still residing in a private home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Historically, they were the first league to allow the goaltender to drop to the ice to stop the puck.^[2]

Ontario

Ontario was geographically large, and it was impossible in the early 20th century to organize an all-black league like in Nova Scotia. Some of the early black players in Ontario hockey history included Hipple Galloway and Fred Kelly. Galloway played as a member of the Woodstock team in the Central Ontario Hockey Association in 1899. ^[3] In 1916, Fred (Bud) Kelly of London played for the 118 Battalion team of the Ontario Hockey League. Apparently, Kelly was scouted by the Toronto St. Pats, but was never officially contacted. One of the first all-black teams in Ontario was the Orioles. The team was from St. Catharines and played in the Niagara District Hockey League during the 1930s.

Herb Carnegie's hockey career began in 1938 with the Toronto Young Rangers and continued in the early 1940s with the Buffalo Ankerites, a team in a mines league that played in mining towns in northern Ontario and Quebec. While with the Ankerites, Carnegie was part of the Black Aces line.^[4] The other line members consisted of his brother, Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre, originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick. They were recognized as much for their talent and skill as their skin colour (Herb was at centre, Ossie was right wing, McIntyre was the left wing). In the semi-professional Quebec Provincial League, Herb was named most valuable player in 1946, 1947 and 1948.

In 1948, Carnegie was given a tryout with the New York Rangers and offered a contract to play in the Rangers' minor league system. However, he was offered less money than he was earning in the Quebec league and turned down all three offers made by the Rangers organization during his tryout.

WHA

• Alton White played for the New York Raiders, Los Angeles Sharks, Michigan Stags, and Baltimore Blades of the (WHA). White is best known for being the second player of African descent, after Willie O'Ree, to have played on a professional major league ice hockey team^[5] In addition, White is the first hockey player of African descent to score 20 goals in a single season. He did this for the Los Angeles Sharks during the 1972–73 season. During the same 72–73 season, he became the first black player in history to score a hat-trick in a major league professional game.^[5]
• Tony McKegney was raised by a white family in Sarnia, Ontario. At age twenty, Tony McKegney signed a contract with the WHA's Birmingham Bulls, only to see the owner illegally renege on the deal after fans threatened to boycott the team for having added a black player to its roster.^[6] In the NHL, McKegney would go on to score over 300 career goals, including 40 in the 1987–88 season. His total of 78 points in the same season would remain the highest ever recorded by a black player until Jarome Iginla broke the record in 2001–02.

NHL

IIHF

• On May 11, 2003, Anson Carter scored on Mikael Tellqvist of Sweden to lead Canada to the gold medal at the 2003 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championships.^[14]
• In 2008, Angela James became the first black woman inducted in the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.^[15] She also scored 11 goals during the 1990 Women's World Hockey Championships tournament, a record that still stands today. James has won four world championship gold medals, two 3 Nations Cup gold medals and one IIHF Pacific Rim Championship gold medal with Canada's National Women's Team.^[16]

Women's hockey

Angela James played in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League, precursor to the National Women's Hockey League and Canadian Women's Hockey League. She represented Team Canada internationally. She scored 34 points (22g, 12a)^[17] in 20 games over four women's world championships,^[18] including 11 goals in five games in the inaugural IIHF World Women's Championships, held in Ottawa in 1990.^[19] In 2008, she, along with Cammi Granato (USA) and Geraldine Heaney (CAN), became the first women to be inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hockey Hall of Fame.^[18] James is the daughter of a black father and white mother; she is the only Black Canadian to captain a national hockey team.^[20]

Career stats

Franchise career

These are the top-ten point, goal, and assist scorers in any franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; G/G = Goals per game; A/G = Assists per game; * = Active player; Bold = Currently Playing

Points Player GP G A Pts P/G Team Jarome Iginla* (RW) 1,219 525 570 1,095 .90 Calgary Flames Kyle Okposo* (RW) 529 139 230 369 .70 New York Islanders Dirk Graham (W) 546 172 191 363 .66 Chicago Blackhawks Wayne Simmonds* (RW) 522 187 164 351 .67 Philadelphia Flyers Dustin Byfuglien* (D) 486 98 234 332 .68 Winnipeg Jets P. K. Subban* (D) 434 63 215 278 .64 Montreal Canadiens Tony McKegney (LW) 363 127 141 268 .74 Buffalo Sabres Trevor Daley* (D) 756 67 164 231 .31 Dallas Stars Ray Neufeld (RW) 331 95 131 226 .68 Hartford Whalers Mike Grier (RW) 448 81 102 183 .41 Edmonton Oilers

Goals Player G G/G Team Jarome Iginla* (RW) 525 .43 Calgary Flames Dirk Graham (W) 172 .32 Chicago Blackhawks Wayne Simmonds* (RW) 187 .36 Philadelphia Flyers Kyle Okposo* (RW) 139 .26 New York Islanders Tony McKegney (LW) 127 .35 Buffalo Sabres Dustin Byfuglien* (D) 98 .20 Winnipeg Jets Ray Neufeld (RW) 95 .29 Hartford Whalers Mike Grier (RW) 81 .18 Edmonton Oilers Evander Kane* (LW) 76 .34 Winnipeg Jets Tony McKegney (LW) 75 .50 St. Louis Blues

Assists Player A A/G Team Jarome Iginla* (RW) 570 .47 Calgary Flames Dustin Byfuglien* (D) 234 .48 Winnipeg Jets Kyle Okposo* (RW) 230 .43 New York Islanders P. K. Subban* (D) 215 .50 Montreal Canadiens Dirk Graham (W) 191 .35 Chicago Blackhawks Wayne Simmonds* (RW) 164 .31 Philadelphia Flyers Trevor Daley* (D) 164 .22 Dallas Stars Tony McKegney (LW) 141 .39 Buffalo Sabres Ray Neufeld (RW) 131 .40 Hartford Whalers Mike Grier (RW) 102 .23 Edmonton Oilers

NHL career

These are the top-ten point, goal, and assist scorers in NHL history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; G/G = Goals per game; A/G = Assists per game; * = Active player

Points Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G Jarome Iginla* RW 1,554 625 675 1,300 .84 Tony McKegney LW 912 320 319 639 .70 Dustin Byfuglien* D 827 173 321 494 .60 Dirk Graham W 772 219 270 489 .63 Kyle Okposo* RW 670 173 285 458 .68 Wayne Simmonds* RW 762 226 218 444 .58 Anson Carter RW 674 202 212 414 .61 Mike Grier RW 1,060 162 221 383 .36 P. K. Subban* D 582 89 288 377 .65 Ray Neufeld RW 595 157 200 357 .60

Goals Player Pos G G/G Jarome Iginla* RW 625 .40 Tony McKegney LW 320 .35 Wayne Simmonds* RW 226 .30 Dirk Graham W 219 .28 Anson Carter RW 202 .30 Evander Kane* LW 186 .32 Kyle Okposo* RW 173 .26 Dustin Byfuglien* D 173 .21 Mike Grier RW 162 .15 Ray Neufeld RW 157 .26

Assists Player Pos A A/G Jarome Iginla* RW 675 .43 Dustin Byfuglien* D 321 .39 Tony McKegney LW 319 .35 P. K. Subban* D 288 .49 Kyle Okposo* RW 285 .43 Dirk Graham W 270 .35 Mike Grier RW 221 .21 Wayne Simmonds* RW 218 .29 Anson Carter RW 212 .31 Trevor Daley* D 207 .21

Historic firsts

• First black player in an NHL Game: Willie O'Ree (January 18, 1958)
• First black player to surpass 20 goals in a single season: Alton White, Los Angeles Sharks, WHA, 1972–73 season
• First black player to surpass 100 PIM in a NHL season: Bill Riley (1976–77)
• First black player to surpass 20 goals in a single NHL season: Tony McKegney (1979–80)
• First black goalie in the NHL: Grant Fuhr (1981–82)
• First black player to surpass 100 goals in the NHL: Tony McKegney (1982–83)
• First black player to win the Stanley Cup: Grant Fuhr (1983–84)
• First black player to surpass 500 NHL Points: Tony McKegney (1987–88)
• First black player to surpass 200 NHL Wins: Grant Fuhr (1988–89)
• First black player to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy: Dirk Graham (1990–91)
• First black player to win the William M. Jennings: Grant Fuhr (1993–94)
• First black player to surpass 200 PIM in a NHL season: Donald Brashear (1995–96)
• First black player to earn 20 shutouts: Grant Fuhr (1996–97)
• First black player to surpass 1,000 PIM in the NHL: Donald Brashear (1997–98)
• First black head coach in the NHL: Dirk Graham (1998-99 Chicago Blackhawks)
• First black player to surpass 400 NHL Wins: Grant Fuhr (1999-00)
• First black player to surpass 50 goals in a single NHL season: Jarome Iginla (2001–02)
• First black player in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Grant Fuhr (2003)
• First black player to surpass 2,000 PIM in the NHL: Donald Brashear (2005–06)
• First black player to surpass 500 goals in the NHL: Jarome Iginla (2011–12)
• First black player to win the James Norris Memorial Trophy: P. K. Subban (2012–13)

See also

• List of African-American firsts
• List of black NHL players

Footnotes

References