FanHouse Black History

Hockey and Black History will both get a great boost this fall as Willie O'Ree, the man who broke the NHL's color barrier, will guest star on an episode of "Everybody Hates Chris", the show starring comedian Chris Rock. The segment was to be filmed yesterday, and air during the fall season.

From LCS Hockey:

Willie O'Ree will be making an appearance this season on Chris Rock's "Everybody Hates Chris." In the show, li'l Chris Rock, played by Tyler Williams, will be ditching school with one of his pals so they can meet his hockey hero, Wayne Gretzky, who's visiting Long Island with the Edmonton Oilers.

But on the way to the arena, Chris and his pal get lost and have to ask an older gentleman for directions. Willie plays the guy giving them the directions. He also gives the kids a lesson in hockey history.

Also featured on the show will be goaltender Kevin Weekes, who will be an extra in the scene.

All in all, this is a great thing for everybody. The tribulations of black athletes in hockey has rarely been covered in the media, and hockey needs some feel-good mainstream exposure in the American market.

For more on Willie O'Ree, check out his Legends of Hockey biography.

See also: The Forgotten Negro Leagues of Hockey

While the Negro Leagues of Baseball are very well known in public lore, the fact that hockey had a similar league is not.

In fact, even someone such as myself, who has read a whole whack of hockey books, websites, and message boards, has never heard of the 'Colored Hockey League' until I saw this video ...



The original 'CHL' pre-dated even the NHL, and could probably get some credit for helping hockey become what it is today.

Our colleague, Greg Wyshynski, has a look at the league that nobody ever hears about:

It was a wide-open style, in contrast to the controlled and conservative play of some of the all-white leagues of the day. Many of the innovations from the Coloured League were quickly co-opted by white players around the region - like suburban high school basketball players stealing moves they saw on a city playground.

It was certainly an eye-opener to see stuff like this, especially since Canada is so often proud of its diverse and multicultural history.

To learn more about this chapter in hockey's development, check out the book "Black Ice".