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48 // APRIL/MAY 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Ina James the budding league. The Rangers made sure that anyone interested in the game got the chance to play by footing the bill for the ice time for every team. " We n e ve r t u r n e d a k i d away," r e c a l l s Vairo, who was heavily invested in grow- i n g t h e g a m e a m o n g m i n o r i t y c h i l d r e n years before he spearheaded USA Hockey's Diversity Task Force. "Role models are important," points out Vairo, a Brooklyn native who saw Willie O'Ree (the NHL's first black player) skate at the old Madison Square Garden. Working in air-conditioning with roller-hockey coach B u d G r i l l o, Va i r o m et Va l a n d h i s l i tt l e brother Henry. In James' era, minorities were not preva- lent in pro hockey, but he found a role model of his own. "If you think about the World Hockey A s s o c i a t i o n , p e o p l e f o r g et a b o u t A l t o n White, he was a heckuva hockey player," James says. " We decided since I was play- i n g t h i s g a m e — I w a s n 't g r e a t — t o g o t o Madison Square Garden to see the WHA and see the Raiders. I thought he was a really good hockey player and I was hoping to be that good." James wouldn't reach quite the same level, but he was athletic, coachable and eager. His big break came in Ontario with the Midland Junior B team and later the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL). The 6-foot-2, 205- pound, left winger was chosen by Detroit in the 16th round (184th overall) of the 1977 NHL Entry Draft. H i s 14 N H L g a m e s i n c l u d e d s t i n t s i n Buffalo (1981-82) and Toronto (1986-87). After a March 1982 recall and a decisive vic- tory in a bout with Terry O'Reilly in Buffalo, the Sabres put James in the lineup for three of their four playoff games against Boston. In his autobiography "Black Ice: The Val James Story" co-authored by John Gallagher, James recalls an ugly incident when the Sabres team bus was pelted with objects and racial slurs as it pulled out of Boston Garden. But James has no ugly memories of O'Reilly. "O'Reilly never said anything racist. He was a perfect sportsman, an extreme competitor. If there was something to break out, it was us who were supposed to break it out," he says. The respect was mutual, and O'Reilly was ashamed to learn about the incident. "If I had heard about [any racist conduct], I would have confronted my teammates because I don't see any place for that," says the Bruins legend. "For them to do it would demean the name of the Boston Bruins." Amidst several black Canadian NHLers in the 1980s, James' achievement as the first U.S.-born NHLer went largely unnoticed. Even so, his vision of hockey 's potential reaches beyond gifted African American s k a t e r s l i k e S e t h J o n e s a n d K 'A n d r e M i l l e r t ow a r d a ny o n e t h a t d o e s n 't f i t a traditional mold. "A fruit salad, it's not very g ood if you only have few things in it. [But if ] you add some things ... you get some great taste," James says. "Now if you look at the human race, you get all these colors ... once we start working together, it's phenomenal." Nowadays James lives with his wife Ina near Niagara Falls, Ontario, and is a certi- fied pool operator/mechanic at Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park where he embraces his opportunity to influence children. He recently spent time with a group of youngsters from the Toledo (Ohio) Ice crew to talk about his journey to the NHL and to offer them a few words of advice. "I've jumped all the hurdles, I know the pitfalls, so if I can make it a little easier for the younger generation coming up, that's what I do," James said. "Hopefully some of the things I've said to them today will sink in, and they'll take them to other places with them such as other jobs, maybe other sports." T h r o u g h o u t h i s l i f e , Va l Ja m e s n e v e r thought of himself as a trailblazer. He had a dream of becoming an NHL hockey player and he refused to let anyone take that dream away from him. And thanks to him, other aspiring young hockey players of color can blaze their own trail into the future. " Val earned every single thing that he did in hockey. He was a helluva kid, and his family are great people," Vairo says. "He did it the hard way. I'd love to see him get an opportunity to get back in the game." P Mick Colageo is a freelance writer based in the Boston area. Over the course of his professional hockey career which included stints with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs, Val James blazed a trail for other young players of color to follow. —Val James "Hopefully some of the things I've said to them today will sink in, and they'll take them to other places with them such as other jobs, maybe other sports." K N O C K I N G D O W N T H E D O O R