Shot on Goal: The NHL and Diversity
Hockey has a long way to go, to achieve widespread diversity of its players, which will, in turn, grow the game, and ensure its longevity and success as a major sport. An astounding 97% of players in the NHL are white. Growing up as a kid I played hockey from the age of seven to thirteen, there were a handful of kids that I played alongside or against, that were of different ethnic and racial background than I.
The hockey world has made an effort in recent history to stand up against systematic oppression and police brutality, providing allyship for a demographic that its players do not represent on a large scale. In the fall of 2020, the NHL suspended play alongside the NBA, MLB, after a police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
This was a massive step forward for all professional sports leagues in North America, in particular, the NHL. These leagues acted upon injustice, fought and are continuing to fight for change, and are using their platform and cultural significance to end police brutality in America.
If the NHL wants to do grow the game of hockey, acts of protest like the one we saw in August will go a long way in doing so. The protest and “stand” that the NHL took in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and other professional sports leagues, was organized and led by the players of the NHL.
In the NHL’s bubble, a phone call led by two black NHL Players Matt Dumba and Evander Kane, that hosted 100 players, came about a plan that would not let the predominantly white organization go voiceless in a time in which its voice could hold significant power.
For the NHL, to grow the game of hockey in North America, the league must continue to offer support of social movements such as BLM, as well as find ways to make the game more accessible and affordable for generations to come. A New York Times article published in 2020, reported that the average family whose kid is playing hockey, spends roughly $1,300 a year on fees and equipment.
History has been made in the world of professional Hockey within the last week. For the first time, the AHL hosted an all-black forwards pairing. Events like this hold extreme power in growing the game and in reaching new audiences, inspiring new players for generations to come.
It would be a surprise to see all black lines or combinations of lineups, such as the one that played March 21st become a mainstay in the world of professional hockey, but some variation and more representation are not out of professional hockey’s reach.
The NHL in particular has a few things going for it as it aims, or at least, should be aiming for a more diverse group of professionals.
Over the last 10 years, the game has made leaps becoming a more technical/ ability-oriented sport, removing the connotation that it is the physical “crazy white person” sport. The stars of today’s game are arguably better than they ever have been before, not to mention, the second overall pick of the 2020 draft, Quinton Byfield became the highest-drafted black player in the league’s history.
For the NHL to thrive in reaching new audiences and growing the game, the league must build upon the historic events that have occurred in its recent history. It is not time for the league to be a bystander in a world of injustice, but a pacesetter, pushing boundaries and using their voice as a tool for the voiceless, much as they did in August. If the NHL succeeds in doing so, white players will make up less than the current 97% of the playing demographic.
