History Made When All-Black Line Starts an NHL Game
(Image: NHL)
There is, surprisingly, history still being made in sports that most wouldn’t have even considered. This is especially true in hockey, where more needs to be accomplished when it comes to feats involving Black players.
Earlier this week, according to
People, a National Hockey League team placed an all-Black starting line in a game for the first time in the history of the professional sports league. The NHL was founded in 1917.
For a league whose roster of players is approximately 3% Black, it was definitely an accomplishment.
Tampa Bay Lightning players Daniel Walcott, Mathieu Joseph, and Gemel Smith started for the team at Monday night’s game against the Florida Panthers. .
Left to right: Daniel Walcott, Mathieu Joseph, and Gemel Smith
Photo Credit: HOCKEYDB.COM, NHL.COM, HOCKEYDB.COM
10 minutes before the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers were set to face off on May 10th, Tampa coach Jon Cooper unveiled his lineup. For the first time in NHL history, three black men were assigned to a line together, and were given the nod to start the game for the team.
In a move that many around the league are praising, the Lightning started the game with Mathieu Joseph, Gemel Smith, and Daniel Walcott occupying the forward positions. NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes went so far as to say that this is a ‘watershed moment’ for the league.
Tampa Bay Lightning sign Simon Ryfors to one-year, two-way contract
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Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have signed Swedish forward Simon Ryfors to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2021-22 season. Ryfors will turn 24 years old in August and is listed at 5’10” and 181 pounds. Ryfors was never drafted in the NHL Entry Draft, but would have first been eligible for selection in the 2015 draft.
Ryfors has spent the last five seasons playing in the SHL in Sweden for Rogle BK. He made his debut in 2015-16 with one game for Rogle BK when he was 18 years old. As a 19-year-old in the SHL, he put up 5 goals and 9 points in 46 games. He followed that with seasons of 8 points, 13 points, and 18 points through 2019-20. This past season, he broke out in a big way scoring 25 goals and 45 points in 51 games. He added another goal and 10 points in 14 playoff games as Rogle BK lost in the Finals.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 by The Associated Press (AP)
Florida Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger, left, defends the goal against Tampa Bay Lightning s Daniel Walcott (85) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, May 10, 2021, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Lightning started three Black forwards in their regular-season finale against the Florida Panthers, a rarity in NHL history if not an absolute first.
Axe: Crunch fan favorite Daniel Walcott makes history in first NHL game
Updated May 12, 2021;
Posted May 12, 2021
Syracuse Crunch forward and fan favorite Daniel Walcott made his NHL debut on Monday night with the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Florida Panthers.SYR
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“Is this the year? Is this it? You gonna do it this year?”
After 248 games with the Crunch, Walcott can finally answer his inquisitors with a “yes.”
But there’s more to the story than simply playing in a National Hockey League game for the first time.
Walcott, along with Mathieu Joseph and Gemel Smith, became the first all-Black forward line to start a game in NHL history.