Love of playing hockey breaks racial barriers at Utah State

By Clay Moffitt

November 7, 2005 | LOGAN -- In one of the handful of sports still dominated by Caucasian athletes, a group of ethnically diverse hockey players finds a home in an unlikely environment.

Hockey fans understand just how rare it is to see ethnic minorities playing hockey even in large cities, let alone in Cache Valley. Logan, Utah, has never been considered a hotbed, however the Utah State hockey club has assembled a team with an unprecedented amount of diversity by hockey's standards.

"This is definitely the most diverse team that I've been on," junior forward Josh Groves said. "If you look at our team, you've got me and Mike [Walker], we are both black, and Jay [Obmerga], Dave [Kuwada], and [Robert] Hashi[moto] are Asian, and [Ro]berto [Leo] has Argentinean descent."

Utah State forward Hashimoto, who played junior hockey in Southern California, said this is not the first time he has played with an ethnically diverse squad. Hashimoto, who is of Japanese descent, said his senior year of high school there were two other players of Japanese ancestry on the team.

"Sometimes our coach would joke around and say 'the moto-line get out there.' Because it was Hashimoto, Fukimoto, and Sakemoto," he said.

Even the National Hockey League, as of 2001, lists only 31 minorities on the rosters of the 30 teams in the league.

The are multiple factors contributing to the lack of diversity in hockey, Groves said, but racial discrimination isn't one of those reasons.

Roberto Leo said he agrees hockey has been very accepting of his Hispanic background, but money plays a larger factor.

"I think the biggest factor is that it costs a lot of money to play," he said. "If it was just as easy as buying a basketball or a football, everybody would be doing it."

Although the NHL never saw its first player of color until Willie O'Ree laced up the skates in 1957, the NHL insists, according to NHL.com, there was never a restriction based on race. However according to some experts, including Hall of Fame center Frank Mahovlich, there were black hockey players talented enough to play in the NHL prior to O'Ree. Mahovlich envisioned a league full of African-American players when he saw center Herb Carnegie play, who starred in Canadian semipro leagues in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. In addition to Mahovlich, Carnegie left such a strong impression on Hall of Fame referee, Red Storey, to remove any doubt about his abilities.

"He was good enough to play in the NHL," Storey said. "It was strictly color, not talent, that kept him out."

About 50 years later, the NHL had another minority pioneer, when Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils became the first Hispanic player ever drafted. Than later that season he became the first player in 33 years to win the Calder Trophy (equivalent to the Rookie of the Year award) and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

The half-Argentine, Leo, said he was excited for Gomez, but not for the reasons you would suspect considering his Hispanic background. "I never really leaned more toward my Argentinean side, I've never leaned more to my American side," he said. "It's cool, but it's more just because he's a good player."

In addition to Gomez, the New York Rangers drafted Cuban-American Al Montoya in 2004, who looks to have a promising future in the NHL.

Hashimoto, Leo, and Groves are still pioneers in the sport in their own way, although not on as large of a scale. Each of the players are the first in their family to play hockey, and paving the way for future players of different ethnic backgrounds.

Hashimoto said his relatives, the majority of which still live in Japan, have become very supportive of his passion for the sport. In the summer of 2005, one of his cousins from Japan that he was really close to passed away.

"He was probably my favorite cousin, just because I don't have relatives in California. He was probably the only cousin that came over the states and hung out. He actually lived with us for 3 months," Hashimoto said. "When my cousin passed away, and I gave my uncle my Aggie jersey, after that he (the uncle) became really supportive."

Although the USU players experience has been positive. Hockey has had its share of racial controversy. In March of 2003, minor league hockey coach and former NHL Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck resigned after using a racial slur to refer to one of his players.

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