NHL undeserving of recent racist label

Atta Almasi
Sports Staff

Feb 15, 2012

I can still remember those late Saturday nights in Toronto as a nine-year-old, trying to stay up just a little bit longer after the Leafs games had finished to catch the first period or two of the Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader. More often than not that game would feature the Edmonton Oilers. Looking back on those days, I realize that the appeal of the Oilers — why they became my second favourite team (after the Blue and White of course) — was not only that they were the team that most frequently appeared in the HNIC doubleheader and the fact that they had my favourite goaltender Tommy Salo, it was because three of their players, Mike Grier, Anson Carter, and Georges Laraque, were all — what was then somewhat of an oddity in the NHL — black.

Though the number of racial minorities, specifically African-Americans and African-Canadians playing hockey, has continued to increase dramatically in the NHL, there has also been an increased spotlight on the somewhat taboo and unspoken issue of racism in hockey. From the John Vannesbrook racial slur towards current Dallas Stars d-man, Trevor Daley, during his days with the Barrie Colts, to verbal assaults Georges Laraques endured through his minor hockey days, it’s true that the hockey arena may not be the most welcoming or accepting place at times.

This has been brought into the spotlight this season with two major “racial” incidents. The first of these incidents occurred in September during a pre-season game between the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers in London, Ont. when one fan thought it would be funny to throw a banana peel on the ice while the Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds, who is black, was shooting a penalty shot.

The other incident took place in early January when, during a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers in Florida, Panthers forward, Krys Barch, apparently asked Habs defenceman P.K. Subban if he had “slipped on a banana peel” after the young player had fallen to the ice during a fight.

The banana-throwing fan in London, who pleaded ignorance saying he didn’t know that throwing a banana peel at a black hockey player could be interpreted as racist, was rightfully ridiculed by players, agents and officials around the league and fans from London for being an idiot. The Subban-Barch incident resulted in a one-game suspension for Barch. In the case of Barch, though, after it came out what was allegedly said, it seems highly unlikely that his remarks were fuelled by racism. In fact, Trevor Daley came out to defend his former teammate.

Regardless, though, the NHL had to crack down given the fact that the league had its image and public perception at stake. To their credit, they were right in assuming that they had to do something — there already exists a stigma and an assumption that the NHL, as a 96 per cent white player league, is racist. In much of the United States, and among many U.S. media outlets such as ESPN, who hasn’t shown any post-lockout games on their network, where people don’t know or care much about hockey, the Barch incident further cements in their minds their incorrect assumption of hockey being a racist sport.

And the initial reports that said that Barch had used “a racial slur”, underlines the fact to these same people that Subban is treated and viewed differently because of the colour of his skin and turns the focus onto his race and the lack of minorities in the sport of hockey instead of the play, game or character of the sport itself.

What’s more, the idea that the league, players, or officials at the NHL level are racist is ludicrous if you listen to players like Georges Laraque and Wayne Simmonds. Both players, who are African-Canadian, say that they have never been treated differently in the NHL because of race and that they do not view their sport as one in which players who are visible minorities are subject to discrimination and prejudice. This is also echoed by other players such as Leafs’ Nazim Kadri who is a Muslim of Lebanese descent.

So if racism does exist in hockey it most likely occurs before players turn pro. And maybe that is where hockey needs to turn its attention, while still looking to educate the non-hockey fans that the NHL is indeed an accepting, tolerant and welcoming place.

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