Cold as Black Ice........

Once again, I have to give many thanks to blog commenter/supporter "Sergio" for informing yours truly of an important (and little known) chapter in sports history. The above ESPN video clip, which aired earlier this year during Black history month, highlights the accomplishments of The Coloured Hockey League founded in Nova Scotia in 1895. Interestingly enough, the league was primarily composed of the descendents of escaped slaves coming from America via the famed underground railroad. This amazing story is encapsulated in greater detail in Black Ice, written by siblings George and Darril Fosty.

This book is a crucial read as it may potentially re-write Canadian history. One must remember that hockey is the last bastion of sports where Whites still remain dominant. One quick example of history perhaps being changed pertains to who gets credit for hockey's notorious "slapshot" technique. Presently, the late Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens, is credited for inventing the slapshot. However, according to George Fosty, Eddie Martin of the Halifax Eurekas (one of a dozen coloured teams during this period), utilized the slapshot maneuver, some 50 years prior to Geoffrion. As expected, this sliver of sports history is still under review by the NHL and the NHL's Hall of Fame organizations. For more on the Black Ice project and the Coloured Hockey League, click on the links below:

Wiki takes on the Couloured Hockey League

Black Ice-The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925

The Black Ice Project