Book Review: "Breaking the Ice" by Cecil Harris

The NHL season is going into it's final stages.

We know who the last four teams are, but we don't know who's going to be having a parade down the main streets of their city yet.

After the season is over, what then for hockey fans who just can't seem to get enough hockey and the other sports just won't do.

I suggest going to your local library or bookstore in case the library doesn't have it yet, heading over to the very small hockey section, and picking up a book called "Breaking the Ice" by Cecil Harris, who covers the Carolina Hurricanes for the The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Harris' book focuses on a part of hockey that some of us, even avid hockey fans like myself, didn't even realize existed.

The official title of Harris' book is, "Breaking the Ice -- The Black Experience in Professional Hockey."

Not only does Harris write about current NHL African-American players such as Anson Carter, Mike Grier, Jerome Iginla, Kevin Weekes and Donald Brashear, he also writes about hockey pioneers such as Willie O'Ree and the Carnegie Brothers, Herb and Ossie, who along with Manny McIntyre formed the famous "Black Aces line" in the old Quebec Hockey League.

Harris, like the players he writes about, also has had problems due to the fact that he is a black reporter covering what people perceive to be a sport that only white people play.

While covering a Carolina Hurricanes-New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Harris was approached by a "fan" who asked him, "What are you doing here? The New York Knicks isn't here tonight."

Harris' book also mentions legendary black hockey teams such as the ST. Catherine (Ontario) Orioles, who were the first all-black hockey team in Canada.

If you happen to be fortunate enough to go to Toronto on vacation, make one of your stops the Hockey Hall of Fame. One of the exhibits features the Orioles.

Besides the players mentioned, Harris also talks about such players as Grant Fuhr, who recently was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame and players you may or may not have heard of such as Mike Marson, Ray Neufeld and Tony McKegney.

Harris' book is not so much a reminder of what black players have had to go through while trying to make it to the NHL, but how much racism did play a part in their struggle.

The book is also a history of hockey. A history that many black people don't know existed.

The fact that many of the players mentioned, with the exception of Mike Grier, are Canadian, means nothing, because hockey is a sport that anyone can play.

With programs like the Diversity Task Force and the "Hockey is for Everyone" campaign, seeing a black person in a hockey uniform in a rink near you isn't such a novelty anymore.

Harris' book honors black hockey players past and present.

"Breaking the Ice" should be read by every hockey fan, no matter what ethnicity you are.