Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey

by Cecil Harris

A detailed study of African-American contributions to the sport of professional ice hockey outlines the contributions of such hockey pioneers as Herb Carnegie and Willie O'Ree, as well as the current careers of Anson Carter, Kevin Weekes, Donald Brashear, Jason Doig, Mike Greer, Sean Brown, and Jamal Mayers.

Genres: Hockey, Sports

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

I'm the author of three sports books, the most recent being Charging the Net: A History of Blacks in Tennis from Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe to the Williams Sisters (Ivan R. Dee, publisher). Charging the Net draws on personal interviews and extensive archival research to produce the first in-depth look at blacks in tennis, from the black-led American Tennis Association in the early 1900s to the historic tournament wins by Gibson in the 1950s and Ashe in the 1960s and 1970s to the Hall of Fame careers of Evonne Goolagong and Yannick Noah to the emergence of sisters Venus and Serena Williams as Grand Slam champions and global superstars.
My other books are Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey (Insomniac Press) and Call the Yankees My Daddy (The Lyons Press)."

Reviews

[Umair Sial]

I read this book when I was 10 but what I do remember is it really taught me about the struggle that minorities face. I didn't truly realize what racism was until I read what would happen to non whites in sports where I was used to seeing very diverse players. Overall, I really feel it did what it meant to do which was convey the stories of how much of a struggle it is for black hockey players to get to a high level in professional hockey.

[Ron Maskell]

Great book, great read, well written and an eye-opener on the subject matter.

[Chris Schaffer]

Meh

[Erik]

A very interesting history of African Canadians/Americans in professional hockey. Sometimes just overwhelmingly heartbreaking, but fascinating reading.

[Susan]

Interesting topic, spoiled by flat, uninteresting writing.