Home / News / Joel Ward among seven Black NHLers on new Hockey Diversity Alliance: ‘Our mission is to eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey’

Joel Ward among seven Black NHLers on new Hockey Diversity Alliance: ‘Our mission is to eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey’

By Ian Oland

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June 8, 2020 3:50 pm

Seven current and former Black NHL players, including recently retired former Capital Joel Ward, have formed the Hockey Diversity Alliance. The mission of the group is to “eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey” and “be a force for positive change not only within our game of hockey but also within society.”

The Hockey Diversity Alliance will work independently of the NHL but hopes to work closely with the league to achieve these goals.

The seven NHLers are Ward, Akim Aliu (co-head), Evander Kane (co-head), Trevor Daley, Matt Dumba, Wayne Simmonds, and Chris Stewart. The players released a letter on social media this morning.

The note reads:

Formation of the Hockey Diversity Alliance
We love our sport. We believe that hockey is the greatest game in the world.

As minorities who play professional hockey, we have come together to create the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA). We have appointed Amik Aliu and Evander Kane as our co-heads and our executive committee includes Trevor Daley, Matt Dumba, Wayne Simmonds, Chris Stewart and Joel Ward.

Our mission is to eradicate racism and intolerance in hockey. We will strive to be a force for positive change not only within our game of hockey, but also within society. Although we will be independent of the NHL, we are hopeful that we will work productively with the league to accomplish these important changes. We believe in the importance of accountability in developing inclusivity and diversity for all involved in our sport, including fans and the league office.

We will promote diversity at all levels of the game through community outreach and engagement with youth and will endeavor to make the game more affordable and accessible. We will also focus on educating the hockey community about the racism issues confronting the sport, while advocating for acceptance and equality. We have partnered with a charitable fiscal sponsor and we will be launching a charitable division in the coming weeks to assist us in achieving our objectives.

In creating our alliance, we are confident we can inspire a new generation of hockey players and fans. We are hopeful that anyone who puts on skates or sits in the stands will do so without worrying about race, gender, or socioem=conomic background and will be able to express their culture, identity, values, and personality without fear of retribution.

We are united in our efforts and promise to work tirelessly to bring about the change our sport and society needs.

Yours truly,

Akim Aliu, Trevor Daley, Wayne Simmonds, Joel Ward, Evander Kane, Matt Dumba, and Chris Stewart

TSN’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Hockey Diversity Alliance has been months in the making. Members of the organization spoke with Colin Kaepernick in video calls in recent weeks and said that the conversations were “very powerful.”

The alliance is separate of the four different committees the NHL plans to create to address the diversity issues across all levels of the sport.

“We know how unprecedented this is for our sport,” Kim Davis, the NHL’s executive vice president for social impact, growth initiatives, and legislative affairs, said to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “How we capture that and keep that momentum going is really what I’ve been focused on. Two weeks from now, two months from now, two years from now … how do we have this same feeling? How do we ensure that everybody feels that they can be a part of our sport?”

Screenshot courtesy of the NHL

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