Leading for Change: The NHLCA and  The BIPOC Coaches Program

by Bob Dawson

Bob Dawson

Paul Jerrard (left) Photo Courtesy of Sportsnet

November 10, 2020

When the NHL was formed in 1917, the face of the League was all white. After 1931, however, it began to change albeit gradually with the inclusion of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) players as seen in Breaking The Ice: The NHL’s First Players of Colour.

To date, based on the most recent available data it’s estimated that 187 BIPOC played in the NHL with Blacks leading the way with 94 (50.3%) followed by Indigenous people with 57 (30.5%), South Asians with 24 (12.8%) and people of Middle Eastern descent with 12 (6.4%).

Sadly, this inclusiveness has yet to extend in any significant way beyond the ice level to behind the players’ bench as head or assistant coaches. It seems that former white NHL players are given the shortest path to a NHL coaching job. Some have been immediately hired as coaches as soon as they announce their retirement, while others are afforded assistant positions to “learn the ropes” before being named head coach.

In terms of BIPOC players, the forgoing unfortunately isn’t the case. One has to be mindful of the “old school mentality” in terms of the General Managers (GMs) and whom they hire as coaches. The NHL is noted for the “recycling of coaches” where individuals receive 2 and 3 coaching opportunities. There appears to be, on the part of GMs, a reluctance or lack of interest to bring up or hire anybody new like people of colour.

Currently, there’s only one (3.2%) Head Coach of colour out of 31 in the NHL and that’s Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues who is Indigenous. No Blacks have held a head-coaching job since Dirk Graham in 1998-1999 with the Chicago Blackhawks. At present, there are 2 (2.0%) assistant coaches of colour out of 100 in the NHL (Manny Malhotra – Toronto Maple Leafs, Alain Nasreddine – New Jersey Devils). Most of the available coaching opportunities in the league for people of colour are in such areas as goaltending (Frantz Jean – Tampa Bay Lightening, Sudarshan Maharaj – Anaheim Ducks), player development (Francis Bouillon – Montreal Canadians), and video (Nigel Kirwan – Tampa Bay Lightening, Samson Lee – LA Kings).     

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

In tandem with the NHL’s other initiatives to uplift diverse talent throughout the League, the National Hockey League Coaches Association (NHLCA) established the BIPOC Coaches Program. This important initiative aims to specifically identify, engage and support Black, Indigenous and coaches of colour in several areas including skills development leadership strategies, communication tactics, networking and career advancement opportunities.

Back in June of this year, the program was initially launched together with the support of NHL coaches and in collaboration with the NHL. Ten Blacks were identified and invited to participate in the program’s 2020 NHL Coaches Association Global Coaches’ Clinic. They included: Duante Abercrombie (Stevenson University, NCAA Division 3 hockey), Cyril Bollers (General Manager and Head Coach, Jamaican Men’s National Ice Hockey Team), Nathaniel Brooks (Ryerson University, U-Sports), Marquise Cotton, Gonzaga High School in Washington), Leon Hayward (Colorado College, NCAA Division 1), Joel Martin (Kalamazoo, ECHL), Jason McCrimmon (Motor City Hockey Club, US Premiere Hockey League), Jason Payne (Cincinnati, ECHL), Leo Thomas (former coach of Macon, Southern Professional Hockey League), and Joel Ward (former NHL player, San Jose Sharks).

Participants at the clinic heard lectures from Barry Trotz, coach of the New York Islanders, on “Foundational 5-on-5 Defensemen Development” and Anaheim Ducks coach Dallas Eakins on “Creating Team Culture: How to Build and Cultivate a Strong Dressing Room.”

As it happened, the Black coaches were also at the clinic to teach others as well as share their lived experiences and provide the NHLCA with input on reasons as to why there are so few coaches of colour in the NHL. Lindsay Artkin, President of the NHLCA, stated “That was the reason for not just inviting them to the clinic but to be sort of thought leaders for us and our association in how we can work together going forward beyond just the week of the clinic to create programs to help coaches, whether black, brown, Asian, female.”

From the initial conversations and feedback in June, the NHLCA expanded their network to some 30 coaches of colour from across North America and had conversations with each coach in order to capture their perspectives on the coaching situation. The Association heard many commonalities in terms of the challenges the coaches faced and from there restructured the BIPOC Coaches Program to focus on accomplishing the following broad objectives (1) Networking and Building Relationships, (2) Professional Development, and (3) Visibility and Exposure.

Of the 30 coaches in the program, Paul Jerrard, former NHL assistant coach, John Paris, first Black coach in professional hockey, Graeme Townshend, former NHL player and skating coach, are involved as is Joel Ward, former NHL player. The experience level of the coaches ranges from 3 to 25 years and from youth hockey up to the professional level.

According to Artkin, the 30 coaches will have complimentary access to their annual NHLCA Global Coaches’ Clinic and all will be invited to take part again next year. Depending on the health and safety of COVID-19 pandemic come next summer, the 2021 Clinic will be held online again in June. 

Closing Comments

The lack of BIPOC head and assistant coaches in the NHL can best be explained in large part to access and opportunity. Accordingly, the NHLCA has taken a positive step to help correct the situation through its BIPOC Coaches Program. This initiative will go a long way in creating a bigger pipeline or pool of candidates of colour for NHL GMs to consider when hiring head or assistant coaches.

To be clear, the level of inclusiveness in the NHL coaching ranks will not change over night. It will depend for the most part on the GMs’ perspectives on and commitment to diversity and inclusion. In essence, they wield a lot of power in hockey and are the “gatekeepers” to coaching opportunities in the NHL.

Bob Dawson is a former hockey player, diversity management consultant and a senior writer for the Boxscore World Sportswire. For additional information, you can visit his website http://thebobdawsonway.weebly.com.