Leveling the Ice
Confronting Racism in Hockey
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- US$13.99
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A deep dive into the institutional racism and prejudice in the sport of hockey that persists across all levels - and how it will impact the future of the sport
While professional sports leagues claim to promote diversity and inclusivity, institutional racism remains apparent in all sports, but especially hockey. In Leveling the Ice, sportswriter Steven Sandor challenges the perception that hockey is open to everyone and the idea that the hockey establishment wants more inclusion and diversity.
Featuring interviews with NHL players of color like Darnell Nurse, Matt Dumba, Nazeem Kadri, Zach Whitecloud, Ethan Bear, Jason Robertson, Sandor reveals their stories of exclusion to highlight the deeply ingrained racism in the sport. The players share insights into the racism they faced while they built their careers as well as the racism, they still face today from the hockey establishment
From hockey’s racist past to the ongoing reluctance of the hockey establishment to embrace grassroots diversity initiatives, Sandor delves into how members of communities of color (who only make up 5% of the NHL) are being driven away from the sport to more inclusive ones like soccer and basketball, despite the NHL’s expansion to new markets and demographics with billion-dollar TV deals. Comprehensive and timely, Leveling the Ice grapples with how the institutional racism in hockey will directly affect the future of the sport.
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The prevalence and impact of racism in North American hockey are explored by sports journalist Sandor (Called Up) in this noteworthy interrogation. In 2023, around 5% of National Hockey League players were Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Though often seen as a "white man's game," hockey has a history of trailblazing players of color, according to Sandor, who spotlights prominent players like Willie O'Ree, the first Black player in the NHL, and the Colored Hockey League, which began in 1895, decades before baseball's Negro Leagues. Today, costly gear and ice rink time are financial barriers for young athletes of color interested in the game ("The rink is a place that screams wealth and privilege," Sandor writes). When these players do make it to the upper tiers of hockey, like star defenseman P.K. Subban, they are asked to play stereotypically violent roles on the ice, according to Sandor. The author does a solid job of laying out possible solutions, detailing how organizations like Apna Hockey are involving more people of color in the game through youth camps, but, as he astutely demonstrates, part of the issue lies in the lack of BIPOC owners in the NHL. This is a clear-eyed and important call for an institutional reckoning.
