Why there are so few minorities in hockey

[Maple Leaf]

In spite of what you may have heard or what you may have believed-or what some leftist paper may have written- it is not because of racism.
Like any other professional team sport, to make it as a pro you have to have been a good amateur. The amateurs come from Europe and North America. In Russia and the other eastern block countries there are simply no minorities. In the U.S. and Canada, where I come from, minorities simply do not participate in the sport very much. This is truer in the U.S. than in Canada where some minorities are starting to play, but still not very much.
In Canada, hockey is our national game. Thousands of Canadian men play weekly long after they have retired from the workforce. White hockey culture is so strong that it is intimidating to minorities and they just shy away from it. There is no systematic "caste" system keeping minorities such as blacks from playing. If they want to play and progress through the amateur ranks they are not stopped from doing so. However, it is a long road to the NHL and it takes a tremendous commitment to get there. It also helps to have a hockey background in the family to help with the coaching along the way.
So, essentially, minorities are not in hockey because THEY choose not to be, NOT because they are cast aside, and because they are minorities, by definition, and it is reasonable that there are fewer of them than whites.

 

[hedgehog]

Last weekend while watching the Wisconsin Badgers play the Minnesota Gophers the announcer called Robbie Earl (black) "the best skater in the country". I accidentally spit up on myself when the guy said this. I knew of at least 2 or 3 guys on the rink who are better pure "skaters" than Earl. More of the Black = Athletic mentality.

 

[Maple Leaf]

KJV1:
That black athlete mentality is very prevalent in the U.S., in fact it is irrefutable. I have to say, though,
that is not so much the case in Canada -and especially not in hockey. I don't know if it is that the announcers are more honest or that the fans are more knowledgeable or what it is but I have never heard that kind of nonesense.I'm not saying it has never been said but I have never heard it. The fans can, like you, can see for themselves a fast skater anyway.
One thing I really love about hockey is the braggarts, showboaters, prancers, trashtalking insolent brazenly shameless gutter snakes don't exist. Hockey still has a payback rule and offenders may loose their teeth- or worse.

 

[Southern Knight]

Several explanations:

1. Most hockey players come from cold-climate areas, which are largely devoid of blacks (Detroit notwithstanding)

2. Blacks, on average, have weak ankles, which makes it difficult to skate well (again, there are exceptions)

3. Hockey is a very expensive sport to play as a youth and blacks just don't have the means (or the desire)

4. Blacks are afraid that they ice will melt and they'll drown.

 

[Bear-Arms]

The Blackhawks have two minorities, both are rookies, and neither one is black.

 

[foreverfree]

4. Blacks are afraid that they ice will melt and they'll drown.

John

 

[Charlie]

Playing devil's advocate: Isn't hockey about speed? And aren't Blacks fast afoot? Ignila (sp.?) is (sorta) Black, right? The expense, in time and money, of hockey constitutes a racial barrier to poor oppressed minorities. Not unlike lacrosse. Only wealthy public and private schools can fund hockey programs (uh, well, South Boston High School has a hockey program, just the exception to test the rule).

It may serve the interests of the NHL to make hockey a Black sport. No broadcast ghetto when 79% of the players are Black. ESPN on-air talent will swoon with pleasure describing all the excitement of the improved NHL.

 

[white is right]

Hockey in Canada has similar programs to what baseball and football have in terms of equipment donation for disadvantaged youth, regardless of race. When the youths are minorities ie aboriginals or blacks it makes the news more, but inner city youth that are white have made the NHL. John Madden made the NHL and he grew up in the projects, and their was a famous case of an ethnic Greek hockey player who made the NHL and his brother stayed in the ghetto and got arrested for a vicious car jacking and the papers stated how different their lives were. I think that many black Canadians are recent immigrants and are prejudiced against hockey, they have also stated that many aboriginal youth have been too isolated to get discovered or give up on the game too quickly. But Canada has fairly rich history of aboriginal NHLer's, not that pc crowd talks about it much compared to black hockey players........

 

[Ta Waki Mumba]

My understanding is that aboriginals proform as well as white players up through the minor leagues but tend to fall apart when they turn pro.

 

[white is right]

I have heard that many natives have dropped out of the low minors because of home sickness. Recent stars that have been of aboriginal ancestry are Bryan Trottier, Therion Fleury, Grant Fuhr(who is half native) and Cheecho. Also some of hockey's best tough guys and rugged players have been aboriginal, my two favourite alltime players as a kid were Stan Johnathan and Harold Snepts....

 

[Gary]

Black men can't skate, that's why there are so few non-whites in hockey-let's keep it that way. When Kenya can beat Sweden for the Gold Medal that will truly be a miracle on ice!!

 

[Ta Waki Mumba]

I have heard that many natives have dropped out of the low minors because of home sickness. Recent stars that have been of aboriginal ancestry are Bryan Trottier, Therion Fleury, Grant Fuhr(who is half native) and Cheecho. Also some of hockey's best tough guys and rugged players have been aboriginal, my two favourite alltime players as a kid were Stan Johnathan and Harold Snepts....

That's more or less what I had in mind but I didn't know how to put it into words. Native hockey players have become so accepted that they are not a minority but rather "part of the majority". Unless of course you're a thumb-sucking liberal sports reporter in need of a sob story...

 

[Maple Leaf]

Natives in Canada are welcome to play and succeed, like everyone else, when they are dedicated and talented. In most hockey leagues natives are liked and mix in well with players of European ancestry (whites). The same cannot be said about players of african ancestry (blacks). Many blacks do not mix in well with the rest of the crowd because of that attitude they are famous for and so disliked for. It speaks volumes when a foreign born oriental can play well and be very well liked by so many and a 6th generation black can play well and be so disliked. If you've lived in Canada a long time and played years of hockey you'll know what I mean.

 

[Guest]

everything maple leaf just said is b.s. blacks don't do well in hockey because blacks don't care about hockey. hell most people in the us don't care about hockey. when you get a larger number of blacks playing then you might see some rise up. but overall hockey is the behind soccer in the u.s.

 

[Guest]

everything maple leaf just said is b.s. blacks don't do well in hockey because blacks don't care about hockey. hell most people in the us don't care about hockey. when you get a larger number of blacks playing then you might see some rise up. but overall hockey is the behind soccer in the u.s.

 

[Don Wassall]

Ah, the old "blacks would effortlessly dominate (fill in the blank), but not a single one of the 35 million of them in North America has any interest in doing so"gambit. This isthe time-honored,non-thinking, all-purpose, no-proof-is-necessary response for true believers in black athletic supremacy. It's kind of an interesting commentary don't you think, that none of the world's blacks have any interest in 99 percent of the world's sports?

 

[Ground Fighter]

Maple Leaf,

I agree with your post 100%. *******y, trash-talking minorities usually avoid hockey for several reasons. However, one of the most common is the fact that if you have a "problem" with another player (whether it be a teammate in practice or opposition in a game) NO ONE is stepping in FOR you. That means none of your homeboys are allowed to jump in unless it is a bench-clearing brawl. It's you against him, and no one else.

When I played hockey, in both travel hockey, high school and local college, there was an unwritten rule that players handled confrontations one-on-one. If two guys got heated in practice, coach let them scrap. Problem over. Everyone back to practicing, everyones friends again.

Blacks don't follow that pattern. They only fight when they're entire posse is present to jump the opponent if their 'homeboy' loses.

Watch an NBA game sometime. If two players start roughing one another up, before you know it, here come Tyrone and Darnell with fists flying, ganging up on one single player.

 

[Guest]

i'm back with a new name. had trouble posting . but like i said before blacks are not playing hockey thats why you are not seeing them in the nhl. everybodys coming up with these bs reasons. out of 35 million blacks in the us you probably still have under a thousand playing. you only have about three places were blacks might play it at. thats boston , minnesota, and maybe jersey. you don't even have that many american white boys making it in hockey. give it three years hockey will probably fold anyway.

 

[Gary]

So black boys can't skate!!They should make it a movie!!

 

[Guest]

yes they should. they should call it black boys don't want to skate.

 

[Gary]

Everytime a black fails,loses or can't make it,you use the same excuse.Two years ago you said the same lame excuse-face it black men can't skate or swim or lift or build a semi-decent nation!!

 

[C Darwin]

To state that blacks choose not to play hockey is a very interesting
theme. On the one hand, the socioeconomic situation of low-income
blacks does not give them a choice. Even if these kids had a great desire
to play, there is no way to meet the expenses and transportation needs.
On the other hand to imply that blacks have no appreciation for hockey,
or have no desire to play, indicates a disconnect from the northeast black
community.

My job puts me in contact with more black people than someone who is
actually black. There used to be a sating in the 80's / 90's: "It's a black
thing, you wouldn't understand". Well I do understand. The black guest
might be thinking the Caste Football community lives in a tree in
Appalachia.

Meeting blacks that are true fans of the sport of hockey is sad. Most of
the time, coming up with the money is not the problem. If they could cut
back to only one pair of $150 sneakers per month, this would take care
of the cost. The problem lies with the parents. Black parents do not invest
much time in their children. This is a key component to excelling in the
sport of ice hockey. Great hockey players are not born, they are created.

 

[C Darwin]

From Black Sports Network

Top 10 Reasons....
by Barbershop

Pssst! If you didn't know, the NHL is preparing for their Lord
Stanley cup championship. That's right; there are some other
sports in full throttle besides the NBA playoffs and Major
League Baseball. But why would you know about the NHL? Do
you even care? The last time we checked, professional hockey
wasn't grabbing the attention of brothers from barbershops to
sports bars. When did it ever? Now we know we might be
coming down hard on the NHL, but let's keep it real, do we
really care who wins the Stanley Cup? As a tribute to the NHL
and its few players of color, we here at BSN decided to have a
little fun. There are a lot of reasons why brothers don't watch
hockey, and we decided to hit you with the top 10. It made us
laugh and we wanted to share with our readers.

Top 10 Reasons why Brothers don't watch or attend hockey
games

10-Let a brother try to pronounce Nikolai Khabibulin (Ni-Co-Li
Ha-b-bulin)

9- Hell ! White's aren't even watching hockey anymore. The
next time you talk to a white co-worker ask him; "Hey man did
you catch that Rangers/Devils game last night".

8- Look at where hockey was born. Besides NBA role player
Jamaal Magloire and former track star Ben Johnson, what other
brothers have come out of Canada.

7 -We're not used to moving so fast somewhere without being
stopped or ticketed.

6- Long Sticks with a hook!! Do you know what a brother can do
with a hockey stick?

5- Do you REALLY know any brothers playing hockey? Sure
there are a few playing, but do you really know who they are?

4- Majority of hockey players lose their teeth. Sista's ain't giving
you any play with a blown up grill

3- The combination of ice and skin doesn't work too well for
brothers. With ice that usually means cold weather which
translates into ashy ass skin.

2- Frozen Ponds. Where in the hood can you find a frozen pond
in the winter? Hell we can't even find water in the winter.

1. The fact that white guys get to slap a Black puck into a net
and get paid for it doesn't sit too well with the brotha's.


http://blacksportsnetwork.com/articles/features/
Top10_052506.asp

 

[jaxvid]

I prefer the JB Cash list:

* There are no hockey players that aspire to be actors and make it big in LA-LA land
* No players that cut rap albums
* No hip-hop music in the locker room
* You will never, ever, hear a player 'braggin' on hisself'; if they did it would be lights out the next time they stepped on the ice.
* Few players have multiple kids to multiple women and if they did the kids would have the same last name as them
* No one wears cornrows, dreadlocks, or dog rags
* Hockey players actually believe drug use effects their playing ability negatively
* When hockey players are interviewed you can understand what they are saying even if they are from a foreign country and have just learned to speak English a few weeks before
* Players never yell or assault their coaches
* Lots of white ethnic names, with plenty of vowels and consonant combinations that are difficult to pronounce, especially among Americans that are used to their sports stars being named Johnson, Jones, or Smith.
* No ridiculous dancing after scores
* Hockey players hang their heads when they do something wrong
* No one drives an Escalade or a Hummer
* When a hockey player is escorted by a beautiful blonde woman she is not "on the clock"
* Hockey players don't need four failed drug tests before they are suspended
* Few players are arrested, virtually none for murder, violent crime, or sexual assault/rape. (the one "murder" case to make the news from the NHL involved a player that tried to hire someone to kill someone elseâ€â€￾-NFL players prefer to do the job themselves!)

 

[SeaJim]

to me it is a sport of european origin (is it not?), and therefore blacks have no interest in partaking due the heavy influence and support of white males. but the blacks that do play are oreos (i believe), and want to be accepted by white men so they (blacks) can date white women.Edited by: SeaJim