Leveling the Ice

Hockey likes to say it welcomes everyone. Sportswriter Steven Sandor argues that the sport's own record says otherwise, and that racism is built into the game at every level, from youth rinks to the NHL.

Sandor builds his case on interviews with NHL players of color, among them Darnell Nurse, Matt Dumba, Nazeem Kadri, Zach Whitecloud, Ethan Bear and Jason Robertson. They talk about being shut out and singled out as they worked their way up, and about the treatment they still get from the hockey establishment today.

The book also looks back at hockey's racist history and at the establishment's continued resistance to grassroots diversity programs. People of color make up only about 5% of the NHL, and Sandor shows how many families of color end up steering their kids toward soccer and basketball, which feel more welcoming, even as the league chases new markets and audiences backed by billion-dollar TV deals.

Timely and wide in scope, Leveling the Ice asks what this exclusion will cost hockey in the years ahead, and whether a sport that keeps turning people away can keep growing.