CHANGING THE GAME
Mayor Peduto declares Friday to be ‘Black Hockey History Day’ in Pittsburgh
Two by two, the schoolchildren hopped down the steps in front of the Miller PreK-5 School to find their next lesson waiting just beyond the front stoop.
That’s where they found the NHL’s Black Hockey History mobile museum, parked for the afternoon in the Hill District. The museum on wheels — which features a makeshift locker room, hockey memorabilia and several interactive features — is in the middle of a 14-city tour across the U.S. and Canada. The aim is to educate, entertain and inspire as a part of the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.
“Our goal is to be able to have people see a little bit of a different side of hockey and learn that the game of hockey has a longstanding history, especially in the black community, dating all the way back to the 1800s,” said Kwame Mason, co-curator of the mobile museum and director of the documentary “Soul On Ice: Past, Present & Future.”
The event in the Hill District brought together local politicians and leaders from the hockey world that included Penguins CEO David Morehouse and
Mayor Bill Peduto, who declared Jan 31, 2020, “Black Hockey History Day” in Pittsburgh.
As they celebrated the past and educated students on the history of black hockey, they also looked forward to a brighter day with more opportunities to grow the game, especially in the inner city and minority communities.
“I want to draft a player from the Hill District,” Mr. Morehouse said. “That’s easy to say. But if anyone is a hockey parent and anyone has been around hockey, that’s going to take a lot of work. We’re going to need the NHL’s help.”
Mr. Morehouse said he plans to work with the Penguins’ partners in the Hill District — Ammon Community Recreation Center, the YMCA and Pittsburgh police — to achieve that goal.
Meanwhile, Mr. Peduto pointed to several ways in which the city of Pittsburgh is trying to make athletic opportunities available to every child. On Friday night, the city hosted the grand reopening of the skating rink at Schenley Park. Mr. Peduto has also been active in the efforts to revitalize the
Alfred E. Hunt Armory in Shadyside, where a longtouted indoor ice rink could soon become a reality.
“Hockey is a great way for us to bring everyone together,” Mr. Peduto said. “Unfortunately, in the city, we haven’t had that opportunity — yet. As we stand here today and we celebrate the leaders and the pioneers who have started to change the face of hockey, we should also be looking at what opportunity is right before us. That’s very simply the Hunt Armory.”
“We can bring our universities together with all of our high schools in the city of Pittsburgh and have a place where kids, no matter what neighborhood you live in, will have that opportunity to become hockey players,” he added.
Friday’s event outside of the elementary school in the Hill District was an important step in its own way toward these goals. Students played floor hockey in the school gym and then toured the museum.
Inside the mobile museum, students were greeted by a video in which rapper Snoop Dogg talked about hockey lingo such as “biscuit” for puck and “apple” for assists. As they walked through the museum, the walls were lined with jerseys of former Penguins Trevor Daley, Jarome Iginla and Ryan Reaves.
The museum also included sports memorabilia, such as a mask worn by Buffalo Sabres goaltender Grant Fuhr and the stick that Washington Capitals forward Reggie Savage used to score his first NHL goal on Nov. 30, 1992.
Two of the most important black trailblazers were also recognized. Hanging on one wall inside a glass case was the No. 22 Boston Bruins jersey that Willie O’Ree wore on Jan. 18, 1958, when he became the first black athlete to skate in the NHL.
Next to that jersey was a comic book featuring Herb Carnegie, one of the best hockey players of the 1940s and ‘50s. Though racism prevented him from getting a fair shot in the NHL, Carnegie nonetheless became an inspiration to many by starting North America’s first hockey school. Marvel Comics loved his story so much that they teamed him with Spider-Man in the comic book to catch a group of drug dealers who were trying to smuggle drugs in hockey pucks.
“I myself was very unaware of the history of African Americans in hockey,” City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle said at the event. “I was unaware how much African Americans shaped the modern NHL. For that reason, unfortunately, many young boys like myself and many children in this neighborhood — because they don’t understand the history — don’t necessarily see themselves playing hockey.
“With this initiative, I want to thank [NHL’s Executive Vice President Kim Davis] for expanding the ‘Hockey Is For Everyone’ initiative to include this specific effort. They can now begin to see themselves, understand the rich history that they have as it relates to hockey and now also aspire to be it.”