Colored Hockey League

The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes (CHL) was an all-black ice hockey league founded in Nova Scotia in 1895,[1] which featured teams from across Canada's Maritime Provinces.[2][3] The league operated for several decades lasting until 1930.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Colored Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Founded1895 (1895)
Founder
Ceasedc. 1930 (1930)
CountryCanada
Africville Sea-Sides, c.1921

History

The league was founded in 1895 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by a group of four black Baptist leaders and black intellectuals: Pastor James Borden of Dartmouth Church; James A.R Kinney, who would go on to be the first black graduate from the Maritime Business College; James Robinson Johnston, who would become the first black graduate from Dalhousie University's law program on top of being the first black Nova Scotian to graduate from University; and Henry Sylvester Williams, a Trinidadian intellectual who would go on to found the Pan African Association and the First Pan African Conference and become the first black Barrister to be called to the bar in the Cape Colony.[12]

Among the teams in the league were the Halifax Eurekas, based in Halifax, and the Amherst Royals, based in Amherst.[13] At its zenith, the league had teams in seven communities in Nova Scotia and one in Prince Edward Island.[13]

With as many as a dozen teams, over 400 Black Canadian players from across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island participated in competition.[14] The Colored Hockey League is credited by some as being the first league to allow the goaltender to leave his feet to cover a puck in 1900. This practice was not permitted elsewhere until the formation of the National Hockey League in 1917. In their book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925, historians George and Darril Fosty state that the first player to use the slapshot was Eddie Martin of the Halifax Eureka in 1906.[8][15]

Legacy

In January 2020, Canada Post unveiled a postage stamp featuring the 1906 champion Halifax Eurekas to commemorate the history of black hockey players in Canada.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Black hockey hall of fame proposed for Dartmouth". CBC Sports. August 25, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  2. Divine, David (March 26, 2009). Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora located in Canada. p. 82. ISBN 9781443807586. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  3. Lewis, Jason (February 25, 2016). "Black ice hockey players helped revolutionize the game". Our Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  4. Wyshynski, Greg (September 12, 2006). "The Real Roots of Hockey". The Fourth Period. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  5. Kikulis, Emma (March 14, 2016). ""Everything has a soul, and hockey is no different"". The Varsity. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  6. Dawson, Bob (July 2014). "Report : Panel Discussions on Aspects of Black Hockey and the Black Ice Project" (PDF). Saint Mary's University. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  7. Décoste, Rachel (July 24, 2014). "NHL, Worry About Rigid Racial Lines Before Climate Change". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  8. Drake, Matt (March 28, 2014). "Being black in the NHL: From breaking the colour barrier to the Norris trophy". Eyes On The Prize. SB Nation. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  9. "Black league significant in history". The Chronicle Herald. July 12, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  10. Lapointe, John (June 28, 2013). "On eve of NHL draft, Seth Jones poised to take hockey to new heights". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  11. Harris, Cecil (2007). Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey. p. 195. ISBN 9781897415054. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  12. Fosty, George; Fosty, Darril (February 2, 2018). "Coloured Hockey League". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  13. Julian, Jack (January 23, 2020). "New stamp commemorates black hockey league nearly lost to time". CBC News. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  14. Martins, Daniel, Hockey historian credits black player with first slapshot Archived March 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, CanWest News Service, January 31, 2007
  15. Harrison, C. Keith; Brady, Brad; Hamilton, Philip E.; Valdez, Alicia. "Hockey: Barriers to Crossing the Color Line: the Neglected Story of the Pioneering Players" (DOC). University of Michigan. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
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