Black History - Black Hockey Players

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I purposely waited until February, also known as Black History Month, to end to do this, because frankly, Black History is a part of History in general, and the fact that it's only recognized for one month a year (and the shortest month at that) has always struck me as kind of weird. Why not just recognize and teach it year round, just like "real" history? So where am I going with this? Stick with me for a few. It's not exactly a secret that I love hockey. Unfortunately, despite it's status as one of the "big four" professional sports, it survives here in the U.S. because of "niche" areas where it is very popular, while the rest of the country could care less. I often find myself involved in conversations with non-hockey folks, and inevitably, the question comes up: "Are there any black hockey players?" I don't see it as a racist question. For some reason, most people that don't watch, understand, or follow hockey have an image of a violent sport full of big, bruising Canadians, all of whom missing a few teeth, combined with a few "soft" Europeans with hard to pronounce names. I honestly believe that "Are there any black hockey players?" is genuinely more a question of curiosity than anything to do with racism. Well, the answer is yes, there have been quite a few black hockey players over the years. I'll be counting down ten of them. I'm not really ranking these guys by "favorite," because two of them I never even got to see play, other than through highlight footage. In the meantime, enjoy this tribute to the late Ray Emery, who, despite some off-ice troubles, played goaltender for four NHL teams, taking the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, and winning a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013.