Remembering Herbert Carnegie, robbed of NHL dream by racism

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toronto — As long-time Calgary Flames great Jarome Iginla became just the fourth Black hockey player to reach the Hockey Hall of Fame on Thursday, the family of another Black hockey player hopes one day they too will get a call.

Herbert Carnegie is perhaps the best hockey player to never make the NHL. Born in 1919 in Toronto, Carnegie began playing hockey with the Toronto Young Rangers and eventually made it to the semi-professional Quebec Provincial League, where he won the most valuable player award three times.

A decade before Willie O’Ree became the first Black hockey player in the NHL, Carnegie was given a tryout with the New York Rangers in 1948 and was offered a chance to play for the team’s minor league affiliate, but ultimately turned down the offer.

“If my grandfather were white, he would’ve had the opportunity to play at the next level,” Rane Carnegie, Herbert’s grandson, told CTV News.

Carnegie faced his fair share of racism while on the ice.

During his time with the Young Rangers, he apparently impressed Conn Smythe, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to the point where Smythe said he would sign him if he was white and allegedly offered to pay $10,000 to anyone who could turn him white.

“What more could my grandfather have done?” asked Rane. “He couldn't change the complexion of his skin.”

In the 2007 book, “Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey,” author Cecel Harris notes that “some doubt has arisen” about Smythe’s remarks toward Carnegie, but also mentions that Smythe had a history of bigoted remarks.

After Carnegie retired from hockey in 1953, he started the Future Aces Hockey School, one of the first hockey schools in the country and one that still exists today. The school and it’s foundation are meant to teach hockey skills, but also focuses on inclusion, diversity and sportsmanship.

This year’s annual workshop for coaches and players on race and inclusion shifted online, but Rane said it’s all about keeping the message out there.

“My grandfather was an advocate for inclusion and opportunity,” he said.

Later in life, Carnegie shifted his competitive attention to golf, where he won the Canadian Senior Golf Championship in 1977 and 1978.

He was named to the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

There’s also a public school named after him in Maple, Ont., and a hockey arena named after him in North York, Ont.