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Essentially, the history of black hockey players on Ice in North America goes back to the end of the 1890’s. One of the first great black hockey player was Herb Carnegie, . He made his mark during the Great Depression. Willie O'Ree was one of the first person of colour to play in the NHL’s. He was a player for the Boston Bruins around . Specifically, the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes began in 1895. It was an initiative of some African-Canadian Baptist churches in Nova Scotia. The league consisted of diverse teams from Africville, Halifax, Hammon’s Plains, Dartmouth, Truro, Amherst and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island). All the games played were on an invitational basis with the trophy still residing in a private location in Halifax (Nova Scotia). Ontario was geographically to large as a territory and it was almost impossible to organize in all-black league just like in the Maritimes. Some black hockey player who originate from Ontario were Hipple Galloway who played in the Central Hockey Association in 1899. There was also a certain Fred Kelly who played in 1916 for the Ontario Hockey League. A complete black hockey team was constructed in Ontario during the 1930s. It was named The Orioles. A prolific black hockey player Herb Carnegie’s began his career in 1938 for the Toronto Young Rangers and pursued it in the 1940s with the Buffalo Ankerites. In the Quebec Provincial Hockey League, Herb Carnegie was name 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. The story of Carnegie is really a passionate one like the ones of other pioneers who paved the way for the great black hockey players we have today like the Subban’s, Ward, Duke Duclair, Evander Kane and many others. This short introduction of the historical context in which the black hockey players had evolved since the last 120 years was necessary to show you that the presence of people of African descent in North American Hockey is not something new. It had just evolved and progressed over the years. It's with pleasure that Kapois Lamort & Prod Noire Corpo(Production Noire) will keep you inform on www.problackhockey.com on the evolution of Black Hockey players from all around the world from yesterday to now ! More info: [email protected] or [email protected] |
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