Black History Month is a time for celebration in the National Hockey League, which is now more racially diverse than at any time in its history.

Among the “Big Four” leagues in North American pro sports, the NHL still lags well behind the NFL, MLB, and NBA in terms of black-athlete participation. That’s not entirely the NHL’s fault, because over the years, most elite hockey players came from Canada, a relatively small country where blacks represent less than 4 percent of the population.  

The unfortunate combination of Canadian demographics and historic discrimination against blacks in all major sports took its toll on hockey. No black player skated in the NHL until the league was more than 40 years old, and even 20 years after the color barrier was broken, only two black men had ever played at hockey’s highest level.

Since 1978, however, more than 100 blacks have made it to the NHL. It’s a dramatic number in light of the many obstacles that had to be overcome.

Who was the first black player in the NHL?

Willie O’Ree of Fredericton, New Brunswick, was the first black person to play in the NHL, making his historic debut in the Boston Bruins’ 3-0 victory over the Canadiens at Montreal on Jan. 18, 1958. The 22-year-old O’Ree had been called up from the Bruins’ farm team in nearby Quebec City to replace injured forward Gerry Ehman.

How many Black players are in the NHL 2022-23 season?

In the current 2022-23 season, there are 22 black players on NHL rosters with at least 20 more on the cusp of reaching the league. Thirty black players with NHL experience attended team training camps prior to the start of the season.

How many Black players have won the Stanley Cup?

Ten black players have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup as members of a championship team. Of those 10, six played in the Cup-clinching game. Another 12 black players were members of teams that lost in the Stanley Cup Final series.

Celebrating 10 influential Black hockey players in NHL history

10. Akim Aliu

Years Active: 2012 to 2013
Teams: Calgary Flames

Few hockey players ever had to fight off racism like Akim Aliu, who reached the NHL despite being targeted by teammates and coaches throughout his years in junior hockey and the minor leagues. Born in Nigeria and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aliu came to Toronto at age 7, unable to speak English and having never played hockey.

Despite these disadvantages, Aliu developed into a star and was picked by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. His career was nearly derailed, however, when an older junior hockey teammate viciously targeted him with hate-driven hazing and endless racial slurs. Aliu fought back, however, and did so again years later when his minor league coach allegedly targeted him with more hate.

Although his NHL career lasted only seven games, Aliu went public with his life story after retiring from hockey in 2020. The result led to the firing of his former coach and a partnership with Evander Kane to found the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which works with the NHL and other leagues to prevent racism from interfering with player development.

9. Dustin Byfuglien

Years Active: 2006 to 2019
Teams: Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets,
Awards: 2010 Stanley Cup Champion, NHL All-Star Game in 2011, 2015, 2016

Raised in Roseau, Minn., Byfuglien was a hulking 6-foot-5, 260-pound defenseman who emerged from obscure status as a ninth-round draft pick to become an NHL All-Star.

In 869 career NHL games, Byfuglien scored 177 goals and 525 points, making him one of the better offensive defensemen of his era. He had two 20-goal seasons as a blueliner in the 2010s. Also capable of playing on a forward line, Byfuglien racked up 1,094 penalty minutes.

He was outstanding n the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, helping the Chicago Blackhawks win their first championship in 49 years. In that 22-game playoff run, “Big Buff” scored 11 goals and 16 points, tying for the team lead in goals. He also became the first U.S.-born black player to win the Stanley Cup.

Saying he was burned out, Byfuglien walked away from hockey at age 34 with two years left on a lucrative congract. By then, he had already earned his place in hockey history as the NHL’s first truly outstanding black defenseman – paving the way for future stars like P.K. Subban, Seth Jones, and K’Andre Miller.

8. Tony McKegney

Years Active: 1978 to 1991
Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Quebec Nordiques, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks
Awards: 1985 NHL All-Star Game Selection (did not play due to injury)

One of three black children adopted by a white family in Sarnia, Ontario, McKegney emerged as a junior superstar with the Kingston Canadians in the mid-1970s and was the Buffalo Sabres’ second-round pick in 1978.

With the Sabres, McKegney quickly established himself as the NHL’s first black star. He scored more than 20 goals in five straight seasons from 1979 to 1984 – including a 37-goal season in 1980-81 and a 37-goal campaign in 1982-83. No black player had ever scored 20 goals in a season, let alone 30.

Playing for the Minnesota North Stars in the 1985 playoffs, McKegney erupted for a team-leading eight goals and 14 points in nine games. He would hit another scoring plateau with the St. Louis Blues in 1987-88, reaching 40 goals.

By the time he retired, he had 320 goals and 639 points in 912 career NHL games. He then went on to a successful career in commercial real estate.

7. Mike Grier

Years Active: 1996 to 2011
Teams: Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks
Awards: 1995 NCAA Champion, 1994-95 NCAA East All America First Team

The NHL’s first African-American (i.e. black player born in the U.S.) was Val James in 1981, but James had prepped for the NHL by playing in Canada. It took another 15 years before Mike Grier beca,e the first African-American to reach the NHL after spending his entire junior career in the USA.

Grier, a Detroit native raised in Massachusetts, can claim another historic first. Some 26 years after making his NHL debut in 1996, he also became the first black person named General Manager of an NHL team.

The son of former NFL executive Bobby Grier, Mike grew up in Holliston, Mass., while his dad was working for the New England Patriots. The younger Grier embraced hockey, starring first at St. Sebastian’s School and later at Boston University, where he capped off a 55-point sophomore season with an NCAA championship in 1995.

A ninth-round draft pick, Grier was a role player in the NHL, scoring 162 goals in 1,060 games. His best season was with Edmonton in 1998-99, when he scored 20 goals and 44 points. After his retirement, he took a New York Rangers front-office job – working for former college teammate Chris Drury -- before being hired as the San Jose Sharks GM on July 5, 2022.

6. Kevin Weekes

Years Active: 1997 to 2009
Teams: Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils

Toronto native Kevin Weekes, whose parents had immigrated from Barbados, enjoyed an impressive career tending goal for seven different NHL teams before finding his true calling as a broadcaster.

The second player ever drafted by the Florida Panthers, Weekes was picked 41^st overall in 1993.  He debuted with the team four years later and went on to win 107 of his 348 career NHL games. His greatest moment was helping the Carolina Hurricanes reach the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals. During the playoff run, Weekes posted back-to-back shutouts to close a first-round series win over New Jersey and open the second-round series vs. Montreal.

In 2009, Weekes became the first black national NHL studio analyst as a fixture first on the NHL Network and later ESPN. He has also been a driving force behind Toronto’s local SKILLZ Hockey Program – donating money, time, and equipment to the diversity-encouraging initiative that helped him start his own hockey career.

5. Mike Marson

Years Active: 1974 to 1979
Teams: Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings

Mike Marson didn’t have it easy during his rookie NHL season in 1974-75, but he made an important case for diversity in the process.

Growing up in Scarborough, Ontario, Marson had distinguished himself as a young player and was drafted into the NHL at the tender age of 18, thanks to a special exemption for elite players under 20. No other black player had ever been drafted before him, yet he went very high in the second round.

The first black player to reach the NHL in more than 13 years, Marson had the misfortune of playing on the worst expansion team in NHL history – the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, who went 8-67-5.

After scoring a hat trick in the preseason, he went on to total 16 goals and 28 points as a rookie. He seemed off to a promising start, but constant racist taunting led to off-ice distractions and fights. Hate mail and death threats overwhelmed him, limiting his career to 96 games. Nevertheless, he re-opened the NHL door for black players at a time when it was especially hard to do.

4. Herb Carnegie

Years Active: 1944 to 1954
Teams: Never played in NHL
Awards: Hockey Hall of Fame (2022), Canada Sports Hall of Fame (2001), Order of Canada (2003)

Had Herb Carnegie been 20 years younger, he might have been an NHL legend. Sadly, Carnegie played in an era when even the best black players were denied NHL jobs.

A native of Toronto, Carnegie grew up a huge Maple Leafs fan and was never more disappointed than when he learned the Leafs would never sign him unless someone could “turn him white.” He instead went to the semi-pro Quebec Provincial League, where he dominated play as part of a famed all-black line that included his brother Ossie.

Playing for Sherbrooke in 1947-48, Herb posted a league-leading 127 points in 56 games. That earned him an invitation to the New York Rangers’ 1948 training camp, but the Blueshirts wouldn’t offer him anything more than a low-paying job in the minors.

He eventually joined the Quebec Aces team and mentored a young Jean Beliveau – helping Beliveau go on to a Hall of Fame career. In 2022, a decade after his death, Carnegie joined Beliveau in the Hall when he was inducted in the league’s Builder category.

3. Jarome Iginla

Years Active: 1996 to 2017
Teams: Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings
Awards: Hockey Hall of Fame (2020), Olympic Gold Medal (2002, 2010), NHL All-Rookie Team (1996-97), Lester B. Pearson Award (Players MVP), Rocket Richard Trophy, and Art Ross Trophy (2001-02), King Clancy Trophy (2003-04), Messier Leadership Award (2008-09), NHL All-Star First Team (2001-02, 2007-08, 2008-09), NHL All-Star Game (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012)

Iginla, whose father came from Nigeria, was one of the greatest players in NHL history. The former first-round pick of the Dallas Stars was traded to the Calgary Flames, where he blossomed into a superstar. The former Calgary captain holds Flames records for games played, goals and points, and the team retired his No. 12 jersey in 2019.

In 1,554 NHL games, Iginla scored a miraculous 625 goals and 1,300 points. He had 11 seasons with at least 30 goals, four with at least 40, and two memorable 50-goal seasons. His 52 goals and 96 points in 2001-02 led the league in both categories.

Internationally, Iginla won gold medals for Canada at the Olympics, World Championships and World Junior Championships. At Salt Lake City in 2002, he became the first black man to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

A native of St. Albert, Alberta, the legendary right wing grew up rooting for the local Edmonton Oilers and idolized Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr so much that Iginla started out as a goalie before moving up to a forward position.

2. Grant Fuhr

Years Active: 1981 to 2000
Teams: Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames
Awards: Hockey Hall of Fame (2003), Stanley Cup Champion (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990), Vezina Trophy (1987-88), NHL All-Star First Team (1987-88), NHL All-Star Game (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989)

Grant Fuhr was not just the NHL’s first black goaltender, he was hockey’s first black superstar. The Hall of Famer burst onto the scene in 1981 after a stellar junior career in Western Canada and No. 8 overall selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL draft.

Fuhr dominated the Oilers’ nets throughout the 1980s and was a key factor in their first four Stanley Cup runs. Although the team was best known for stars Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Paul Coffey, Goalie Fuhr was the key to keeping other teams off the scoreboard. The Oilers recognized his role by retiring his No. 31 jersey in 2003, shortly before he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The winning goalie in 403 of his 867 career NHL games, Fuhr also won 92 playoff games to rank third all-time behind Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. He retired from the game with 10 NHL goaltending records, including the stunning achievement of 79 games played in one season (with St. Louis in 1995-96).

After his playing days, Fuhr worked as a goalie coach. It was a fitting way to give back to hockey for a Spruce Grove, Alberta, native, who grew up under the tutelage of Hockey Hall of Famer Glenn Hall.

Although he was stellar on the ice, Fuhr had his share of off-ice struggles, which are chronicled in the excellent 2018 documentary film titled Making Coco – the Grant Fuhr Story.

1. Willie O’Ree

Years Active: 1954 to 1979 (NHL 1958 to 1961)
Teams: Boston Bruins
Awards: Hockey Hall of Fame (2018), Order of Canada (2008), Lester Patrick Trophy for Service to U.S. Hockey (2003)

No one has done more to establish the role of blacks in hockey than Willie O’Ree, who broke the league’s color barrier when he was called up to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958. Nearly 11 years after Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut, O’Ree, a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, finally gave the NHL its first black player.

In the NHL, O’Ree played only 45 career games, scoring four goals and 14 points. Most of his 25-year playing career was spent in the minor leagues, particularly the old Western Hockey League, where he played for 13 years.

After retiring as a player, O’Ree was tapped by the NHL as an ambassador for league diversity. He fully embraced that role – travelling throughout North America to inspire young black players. His work has made the NHL a more inclusive league.

To honor O’Ree, the NHL heled a special ceremony at its 2008 All-Star Game to mark the 50^th anniversary of the O’Ree’s debut. It later created the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in 2018, and the Boston Bruins retired his No. 22 jersey in 2022.

Parameters for making this list

Although players are listed in a certain order, this list is not a ranking of black players based on relative talent or NHL records and achievements. If so, many deserving players would be missing. Instead, this is a list of 10 black players who opened doors for others in a sport where opportunities for racial minorities were historically limited.

These 10 individuals didn’t build their legacies entirely on the ice. They did it by the roles they played in hockey history – often doing so in the face of great adversity.

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