Player who broke the N.H.L. colour barrier dies at age 94
In the past, professional sports were almost an exclusive club where visible minorities were excluded. Famous black baseball player Jackie Robinson broke that sport’s colour barrier in Montreal Canada. In professional hockey, it was a Canadian of Chinese descent, Larry Kwong.
Although he only played for about a minute on the NHL ice, that was enough to say he broke the “colour barrier”. It was in 1948, a year after Robinson’s history-making appearance on the baseball diamond.
Author Paula Johnson’s book on Larry Kwong.
Originally from Vernon, British Columbia, he had an obvious hockey talent and continued to play locally in spite of the racism at the time in which Chinese Canadians were not even allowed to vote.
His obvious skill propelled him into the senior league where he was recruited for the NHL’s New York Rangers farm team, the New York Rovers where he became the leading scorer and a fan favourite.
In 1948 he was invited on the ice for the last shift in a game with the New York Rangers playing against the Montreal Canadiens.
One of hundreds of reports in newspapers great and small across North America both leading up to, and after his brief appearance in the top hockey league. PHOTO: CBC
His popularity had earned him the nicknames “China Clipper” and “King Kwong”.
Although it was a miniscule amount of time in the top hockey league, his name was in almost every paper that day both before and after the game.
Still, he had to return to the farm team, and often wonders why they didn’t give him more of a chance, hinting that discrimination was still a major hurdle.
Interviewed in 2013 by CBC, he reflected on his career hinting that discrimination still kept him from a permanent spot in the NHL. PHOTO, CBC
Nevertheless, he continued to play and was a top scorer and later coach in senior leagues in Canada, and in England and Switzerland.
In 2013, he was entered into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.
He is reported to have died peacefully in Calgary Alberta on March 15 at age 94
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