“On Thin Ice” is a column by Erica Roque about hockey.
On Oct. 15, Willie O’Ree, the first Black hockey player in the NHL, turned 85 years old. O’Ree made his NHL debut in 1958 with the Boston Bruins and left an undeniable impact. Since his professional hockey career ended, he has dedicated his time to directing hockey programs in minority communities and mentoring young players. O’Ree is a living legend and paved the way for many Black athletes today.
Because of this, I wanted to reflect on how far the NHL has come but also where they need to improve in support for Black players and communities.
On Oct. 6, Quinton Byfield became the highest-drafted Black player in NHL history as the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. On Friday, he signed an entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
This is amazing progress for the league, and Byfield is going to be a great fit for the Kings. So far, he’s been welcomed with open arms.
Unfortunately, not all Black players are so lucky. In March, K’Andre Miller, a New York Rangers prospect, was interviewed over Zoom in a special Q&A for the first 500 fans after signing an entry-level contract. It should’ve been a fun and exciting day for Miller, but the chat was flooded with the N-word.
The NHL and Rangers condemned the racism, but this “welcome” was a clear indication of what joining the big leagues looks like for Black players.
It’s no secret that as a sport, hockey is overwhelmingly white. There are currently 43 players of color in the NHL, making up less than 5% of the league. But it seemed like the issue of race was considered too taboo to even mention until recently.
In 2017, J.T. Brown was the first NHL player to protest during the National Anthem in a regular-season game. Brown raised his fist during the anthem in order to bring awareness to police brutality and racism.
In an essay written in July, Brown wrote, “My family and I were prepared for this to end my NHL career. I had decided that I was comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Following his protest, Brown was met with death threats. In order to protect himself and his family, Brown stopped protesting.
The floodgates finally opened for discussion in November when a few NHL coaches were fired over alleged abusive comments. Akim Aliu, a former NHL player, came forward with allegations of racism against Bill Peters, the head coach of the Calgary Flames at the time. Peters resigned a few days later.
Following the killing of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Aliu and current San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA). Its purpose is “to eradicate systemic racism and intolerance in hockey.”
On July 14, the HDA asked the NHL to agree to a pledge, which included eight clauses, to enact systemic change within the league to make hockey more equitable.
The HDA did not ask the league to change drastically in an unreasonable amount of time. It’s honestly insane that the league hasn’t committed to any of these requests before the HDA formed. For example, a zero-tolerance policy for racial discrimination and partnering with or supporting racist organizations should have already been in place.
Yet, the NHL didn’t agree to the HDA’s pledge until Sept. 3, over a month and a half later, and only after the shooting of Jacob Blake. There was only one article and one tweet from the NHL about their acceptance of this pledge.
So on Oct. 7, the HDA announced in a press release that it was going to work independently from the NHL, stating that “the support we hoped to receive from the NHL was not delivered and instead the NHL focused on performative public relations efforts that seemed aimed at quickly moving past important conversations about race needed in the game.”
The NHL wants to claim that it stands for justice, but its actions have made it clear where it stands. With such a large platform as one of the four major sports leagues in the United States, the NHL has the ability to do so much good, but it is choosing not to.
“On Thin Ice” runs every other Monday.