Black NHL players highlighted in hockey card collection displayed in Vancouver
Posted March 21, 2023 2:23 pm.
A collection of hockey cards highlighting Black players is being displayed in Vancouver Tuesday as part of an NHL touring exhibition.
Dean Barnes has been collecting hockey cards for some time, and his Black Hockey Card Collection includes over 100 cards.
“I’ve been a collector all my life. I have to admit I was really collecting as a young person up until 12 years old,” he said.
“During the pandemic, like many people were beginning to look at other pastimes, I sort of renewed my pastime for sports memorabilia and card collecting.”
A collection of #BIPOC hockey cards is on display outside Rogers Arena in Vancouver today as part of the NHL’s United By Hockey Mobile History Museum. Here is a part of my conversation with Dean Barnes, creator of the @blackhockeycard collection. @CityNewsVAN @Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/Cyl7c9phud
— John Ackermann (@jackermann) March 21, 2023
Barnes says he was inspired to create the collection as a way of highlighting Black hockey players who have played in the NHL.
“Because of the issues around the world and amplification of more representation for Black people, I was sort of inspired to think about how I could contribute and collect cards of Black hockey players,” he said. “I think a lot of the players, I think their stories have been forgotten.”
Parts of Dean Barnes’ extensive hockey card collection of Black players are displayed. The collection will be in Vancouver on Tuesday, March 21. (Courtesy Dean Barnes)
Barnes says the collection is also a way of helping promote inclusion.
“It provides a place for people to feel that they’re included as part of the game and honoring, recognizing the rich history and diversity of underrepresented groups. So I think for young people, whether you want to be a card collector, whether you want to be a player, whether you want to be a coach … just trying to promote and make people feel more included,” he said.
Some local players are also highlighted in Barnes’ collection.
“There’s also a number of Vancouver Canucks players who are in the collection at one point in time, such as John Craighead, Claude Vilgrain, Nathan LaFayette, Donald Brashear, Sean Brown, Anson Carter, Kevin Weekes, Derek Joslin, Emerson Etem, Darren Archibald, Madison Bowey, and Jalen Chatfield,” he said.
“According to my research, all these players donned a Vancouver Canucks jersey. So it’s an amazing exhibit to see. There’s lots of history and, hopefully, people will get a chance to go out and see it.”
Barnes says he is also doing more than just collecting the cards.
“I’ve taken the project a step further. We have a podcast called My Hockey Hero, and it tells us stories of all the players in my collection,” he said.
“You hear stories of Tony McKegney, who played for Buffalo, Darren Lowe, who was an Olympic player, the first black Olympic player in the 1984 Olympics, and played for Pittsburg Penguins.”
The collection is set to be on display as a part of the United By Hockey Mobile Museum Tuesday, March 21, from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. outside of Rogers Arena.
It comes as part of the NHL’s “Hockey Is For Everyone” initiative, which the league says “celebrates hockey’s trailblazers, changemakers and business leaders spanning multiple underrepresented and multicultural demographics.”
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“Our re-envisioned, professionally curated United by Hockey Mobile Museum showcases many of the individuals who have blazed new trails and those who continue to influence our game, our business and our commitment to ensuring that Hockey Is For Everyone™,” Jeff Scott, the NHL vice president of community and development and growth, said in a news release.
