Tuesday February 21, 2023
By Laura Everett & Abbi Holt
Sunday February 19th’s matchup between the Boston Pride and the Montreal Force was decided with just 2:05 remaining by Pride defender Kaleigh Fratkin’s goal, bringing the final score to 2-1. With the win, Boston now sits in first place, four points clear at the top of the Premier Hockey Federation table. It was a good win against a good team. What deserves equal, if not more sustained attention, is the commemoration of Black History Month and the further work for full inclusion in hockey that must be done.
It was powerful and beautiful to celebrate the Black hockey present in Toryn Jackson, Captain of the Concord-Carlisle High School Girls Hockey Team and Jennah Diakite, a fifth grader of King Philip-Walpole Youth Hockey, who led the ceremonial puck drop for Black Girl Hockey Club and SCORE Hockey Boston.
Toryn is currently rehabbing from an MCL injury and the team is having a rough season, so put her on the prayer chain. Toryn first found her way onto the ice at a friend’s birthday party and then through SCORE Hockey Boston. A Junior at Concord-Carlisle, she’s now been playing hockey for multiple years, and sees access to equipment and ice time as key for people of color falling in love with the sport. “We need to get the sport in more inner city communities and get more representation,” Toryn continued. SCORE Hockey Boston has been critical in doing that work for youth in Boston who would not otherwise see the game or other players like them. And Toryn’s success on the ice is a testament to what is possible when hockey invests in diverse communities.
Watch the full interview with Toryn Jackson on our Boston Wowmen’s Sports YouTube Channel
Joining Toryn for the ceremonial puck drop was Jennah Diakite. Jennah is in her second year of skating, and her connection with Black Girl Hockey Club has proven invaluable to her love of the game. An aspiring goalkeeper, being on the ice makes her feel “like she’s flying.”
Watch the full interview with Jennah Diakite on our Boston Women’s Sports YouTube Channel
Aida Diakite knew her daughter would need mentorship in a majority white sport and so searched out resources before finding Black Girl Hockey Club. The Diakite family, who lives south of Boston, is originally from the Ivory Coast. Neither parents had played hockey, so “I knew I needed to find other Black women for her to look up to,” Aida continued. Black Girl Hockey Club connected Jennah with Toronto Six Defender, Saroya Tinker, with whom she meets up online monthly. In addition to being an All-Star player, Saroya found new purpose in mentoring; “Now I play for the young BIPOC women in the sport that may not feel like they belong.” We honor the additional labor that both Aida and Saroya are doing to make sure that young Black girl players like Jennah have a way forward in this game that must be accessible to all.
As the second game in the two-game homestand against Montreal, the contrasts in play and presentation were notable. Saturday’s 4-1 win, once the first finally broke open, the win came much easier. On Sunday, everything was a grind till the end. Sunday’s game, on the ice and in the arena felt like a series of missed opportunities.
But moreso, the two games showed the degree of difference in themed days. The “Hockey Fights Cancer” game on Saturday had dedicated beautiful purple jerseys designed especially for the occasion. There were posters up everywhere in the arena proclaiming the special event, with QR codes to learn more and donate to the American Cancer Society. There were signs on the tables for fans to fill out about who they were fighting for. The in-game announcements informed fans that half of all men and one third of all women will be diagnosed with cancer. It was clear on Saturday that for Hockey Fights Cancer, there was forethought and intention to multiple component parts of the themed evening.
In contrast, on Sunday, ostensibly the day dedicated to Black History Month, anything about the history of Black players in hockey was virtually absent. The gorgeous Black History Month poster, by Black illustrator Jo Dabny, was not easily on view until after the game. There was no dedicated jersey, and thus presumably no fundraiser to follow from the sales of the game worn jerseys. There were no signs up with QR codes for donations to Black Girl Hockey Club, or Score Hockey Boston, the two organizations promoted for the day. In fact, a number of the Hockey Fights Cancer posters were still up from the previous day. The in-game announcement, which we transcribed verbatim, said “Thank you for attending and celebrating Black History Month. Don’t forget single and season tickets are available through the Pride website.” This is a major missed opportunity to education, amplify and acknowledge both the ways that ice hockey has historically excluded Black players, and the courage of Black players who have entered and found success and even joy in this majority-white space.
These missed opportunities are incredibly frustrating because it’s not like the Boston Pride doesn’t have a profound and meaningful connection to Black hockey history. The current Pride team and staff are majority white, as is common throughout the Premier Hockey Federation, and need work in intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion. And yet, just last year, Hockey Hall of Famer and Black hockey groundbreaker Willie O’Ree joined the Boston Pride’s ownership group. Willie O’Ree was the first Black player in the NHL through his play with the Boston Bruins in 1958. The Boston Bruins retired O’Ree’s number in January 2022, and he joined the Pride ownership group shortly thereafter.
Certainly, there is more under-celebrated Black hockey history in Boston than just O’Ree’s legacy but this is a clear place to start during Black History Month. Last year, the Boston Bruins hosted the mobile Black Hockey History tour mobile museum. Looking across the PHF, teams everywhere can put more effort into their Black History Month celebrations and anti-racism efforts. But this must be a choice and done with intention, resources, and partnership. The results will be longer than merely a month long.
The Pride’s on ice efforts at the Black History Month game showed a similar pattern of good intention and missed opportunities. The Pride started off faster this game with a beautiful passing sequence up to the Force goal with a little back and forth near the box before Jillian Dempsey just squeaks it in behind the Force goalie, Tricia Deguire in the thirteenth minute. Despite several penalties, the score stayed 1-0 for the Pride at the end of the first.
The Montreal Force opened the scoring in the second however, and we were all tied up. The battle to break that tie would go on deep into the third period. Inconsistent refereeing led to the battle getting very heated with the box getting very busy. Penalties do create a golden opportunity for the Pride in the second with three Toronto players in the box at one time to the Prides one player, but this too was a missed opportunity.
Finally Kaleigh Fratkin put the team on her shoulders, skated out of the Pride box, down the right side, beat her defender, and shot it directly into the goal between the legs of Deguire. Thanks to Fratkin’s tie-breaking goal, Boston came away with the win in regulation, despite a very even contest where Boston had 46 shots on goal and Toronto had 50. This was the team’s 16th win of the season and has the Pride leading the league and four points in front of the Toronto Six.
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