Kane, alliance look to bring change to NHL
After 11 years, Sharks star Evander Kane finally knew it was time. He’d seen and felt the undertones of racism and intolerance in hockey for long enough. It was now time to do something about it.
If George Floyd’s horrific death that was caught on video two weeks ago could create a racial injustice movement around the world, then why shouldn’t hockey be included?
That’s what Kane and six other minority hockey players — including recently retired ex-Shark Joel Ward — felt when they created the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a movement designed to bring awareness and change to the sport.
“There’s clearly a racism problem in our sport,” Kane told reporters Tuesday on a Zoom call. “It’s been pushed aside and covered up ever since I’ve been playing hockey.
“If you don’t get rid of the racism, how are you going to create a more diverse game? That doesn’t make any sense.”
The coalition, which includes other black NHL players Trevor Daley, Matt Dumba, Wayne Simmonds and Chris Stewart, first began discussing ways to make a difference a few months ago. But Kane said Floyd’s death, along with those of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia “amplified things,” and fast-tracked the creation of the alliance.
“It really just kind of put a stamp on how big of an issue it still is in our society,” Kane said.
With Kane and former NHL player Akim Aliu serving as the co-heads of the alliance, they hope to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and league officials within weeks to discuss
ways to make the game more inclusive for minorities while also eradicating racism. The group is also working on ways to make hockey “more accessible and affordable” for wouldbe youth players.
As the alliance prepares to take its first steps, the group last week turned to the man whose giant leap started another movement for some guidance.
That’s how Colin Kaepernick wound up holding court on a Zoom call.
The former 49ers quarterback, who first took a knee in 2016 during the playing of the national anthem to protest police misconduct toward minorities, was glad to help. He offered the group some advice and perspective during a nearly two hour video call.
“Colin’s been the leader of this whole movement from when he first took a knee. It was great to be able to talk to him and for all of us to really talk to him,” Kane said while choosing not to divulge many details from their meeting. “He shared some of his experiences, ups and downs, that he went through. It was great to get some advice on things maybe we can avoid that he wasn’t able to because he was the first one to do it.
“But then also, he gave us some real positive information on how to go about what we wanted to do. So he’s a real good voice and leader for our group. His advice, especially when it comes to these type of social injustice conversations, is invaluable.”
The alliance and its push have already received widespread support around the NHL, with more than 100 players, including Penguins star Sidney Crosby, posting messages on social media on eliminating racism in the game.
Sharks owner Hasso Plattner’s support has also stood out among his peers.
“I think he’s the only owner — definitely in hockey — that made a personal statement, and I think that speaks volumes. We need more of that,” Kane said. “It just speaks to the values of (the Sharks) organization.”
Aliu chose to join Kane as one of the group’s leaders following his own experience with racism. Aliu recently revealed his former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters used a racial slur toward him in the locker room on a number of instances because of Aliu’s musical choices when he was in the minor leagues.
During the call Tuesday, Kane also stressed the need to address racism make lower levels of hockey. Kane once told the story of how parents of an opposing team targeted him for insults while he was just a 10-year-old player in Canada. He said four or five parents were banging on the glass behind him and screaming, “We should cut your (expletive) legs off. You monkey. Somebody should kill you.”
More recently, a black teenager from North Carolina revealed he dealt with similar kind of treatment while playing in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Kane said he was participating in a recent TSN interview with the teen when the young player talked about how his dream to play in Canada was spoiled by racism.
“He played in 40 games and he said he encountered racism or racist remarks in 20 of those 40 games,” Kane said. “Those are the types of things we need to weed out of our game.”