Wilson among ex-WHLers in BLM video
Word spread quickly since it was posted and was shared on many social media platforms
For Koletrane Wilson and a number of fellow Western Hockey League players, the message was too important not to share.
In the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, Wilson and a number of other current and former WHL players put together a video in support of the movement, which has gone viral since.
It’s an important message for Wilson, not just because he’s a black hockey player, but because his father Ray is a member of the Edmonton Police Service whose partner, Daniel Woodall, died battling racial injustice. Monday was the fifth anniversary of Woodall’s death working with the EPS hate crimes unit.
“In our case, we have a platform and although it’s nothing compared to a guy like P.K. Subban or Connor McDavid, we still have a platform being WHL players and we want to be heard,” Wilson said. “Most of us are from Canada and we wanted to be a part of it and we agreed that silence was the worst thing that can happen right now.”
The video posted last Wednesday and shared on a variety of social media platforms also features Kishaun Gervais of the Portland Winterhawks, Mekai Sanders of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Zack Stringer of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Montana Onyebuchi of the Kamloops Blazers, Justin Sourdif of the Vancouver Giants, Tri-City Americans graduate Jadon Joseph, former Edmonton Oil Kings player Klarc Wilson, Tyson Greenway of the Americans and Ethan Price, who played for the Victoria Royals.
“It actually started with Montana Onyebuchi and he just posted an Instagram photo and tagged four or five of us in the WHL,” Wilson said. “Then I was the second one and did the same thing and then for the next couple of days, we were posting pictures and tagging each other.
“The next things is, I get a message from Zack Stringer, who was on my team in Lethbridge, that him, Kishaun Gervais and Mekai Sanders had a good idea of getting all of us together and pretty much talking on one video. We made a video and the rest is history.”
Wilson graduated from the Hurricanes this year as the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, cancelling the WHL playoffs. He signed an American Hockey League contract with the Calgary Flames in April and will be playing with the Stockton Heat next season.
Wilson’s father, a 20-year member of the EPS, became partner and friend of Woodall, who was killed serving an arrest warrant on June 8, 2015.
“He was my dad’s best friend and they were partners for about three or four years,” Wilson said. “They were partners in the hate crimes unit, but had a whole life and a whole friendship.
“Obviously, when it first went down it was definitely a low for him and our family. I think he’s muscled his way out of it and done the necessary steps to grieve and he has a good understanding about everything. But when an anniversary like this comes around, you can’t help but get low and think of what you lost, but I think he’s doing a lot better than what he has in previous years.”
Wilson attended the Black Lives Matter rally Friday in Edmonton and was impressed with the turnout and the manner in which protesters and police handled the event.
“I think you have to tip your cap to everyone, we’ve all seen how some of the protests have turned out in the United States and you can have that nervous factor,” Wilson said. “But when you see north of 10,000 and 15,000 people putting that aside and putting away their fear and showing up for the greater cause, I think that was huge and it was really well done.
“Props to everyone that set it up, props to everyone that spoke, there were a lot of moving speeches and to see all walks of life and all races come together for one movement is exactly what the change needs to be.”
As encouraging as it was to see so many take up the cause, there is still a lot of work remaining to achieve racial equality in hockey.
On Monday, NHL players Akim Aliu, Trevor Daley, Wayne Simmonds, Joel Ward, Evander Kane, Matt Dumba and Chris Stewart announced the formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance in an effort to eradicate racism and intolerance in the game.
“We want everyone to have their voice and use their platform,” Wilson said. “It’s awesome they did it too. It’s not just in hockey, it’s in all sports and it’s not just in sports, it’s in all walks of life and that’s the thing we’re trying to change right now.
“We just want to be seen as an equal to everyone.”
Most of us are from Canada ... we agreed that silence was the worst thing that can happen right now.”
Koletrane Wilson