Herb Carnegie
Encyclopedia
Herbert H. Carnegie, CM
, O.Ont
(born November 8, 1919) is a former Canadian ice hockey
player. Born in Toronto, Ontario to Jamaica
n parents, Carnegie was the first African-Canadian hockey player to be offered an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League
.
and continued in the early 1940s with the Buffalo Ankerites, a team in a mines league that played in mining towns in northern Ontario
and Quebec
. From 1944-45 to 1947-48, he played for Shawinigan and Sherbrooke of the semi-professional Quebec Provincial League and was named most valuable player in 1946, 1947 and 1948.
In 1948, Carnegie was given a tryout with the New York Rangers
and offered a contract to play in the Rangers' minor league system. However, he was offered less money than he was earning in the Quebec league and turned down all three offers made by the Rangers organization during his tryout.
Returning to Canada to play in the Quebec Senior Hockey League
, he played for Sherbrooke St. Francis and the Quebec Aces
before moving to Ontario to play a single season with the Owen Sound Mercuries of the Ontario Senior Hockey Association. During his years in the Quebec Senior League, Carnegie played with future Montreal Canadiens
star Jean Beliveau
and was coached by Punch Imlach
.
, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs
, watched Carnegie play as a member of the Toronto Young Rangers. He is alleged to have said either that he would accept Carnegie on the team if he were white or that he would pay $10,000 to anyone who could turn Carnegie white.
In Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey, author Cecil Harris noted that “some doubt has arisen” as to whether Smythe did indeed utter this remark. According to Harris, Carnegie and others believe that racism played an important part in keeping him out of the NHL. Others interviewed point to his decision to refuse the Rangers offer to play in their organization.
Carnegie also continued his athletic career as a golfer, winning the Canadian Seniors Golf Championship in 1977 and 1978, and the Ontario Senior Golf Championship in 1975, 1976 and 1982.
In 1987, he established the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation to provide bursaries for college and university. Carnegie also had a successful business career as a financial planner with the Investors Group.
In 1996, he published his biography, A Fly in a Pail of Milk: The Herb Carnegie Story.” (Mosaic Press, 1996).
Carnegie was named to the Order of Ontario
in 1996 and the Order of Canada
in 2003. On May 2, 2005, the North York Centennial Centre was renamed the Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre in his honour. On June 12, 2006, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University
. A public school in York Region is named in his honour.
Carnegie is now legally blind.
, Plymouth Whalers
, Halifax Mooseheads
, Milwaukee Admirals
and Bakersfield Condors
and he plays since 2010 for Rapaces de Gap (Gap is a town in South-East of France).
, helping Spider-Man bring down Electro and his hockey puck
/drug smuggling operation (issue 1, Skating on Thin Ice) and foil the Chameleon
's plan to steal a valuable chemical formula (issue 2). The comics were set in Winnipeg
and Fredericton, respectively.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, O.Ont
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
(born November 8, 1919) is a former Canadian ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player. Born in Toronto, Ontario to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n parents, Carnegie was the first African-Canadian hockey player to be offered an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
.
Playing career
Carnegie’s hockey career began in 1938 with the Toronto Young RangersToronto Young Rangers
The Toronto Young Rangers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from the league's early days until 1948. They played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto...
and continued in the early 1940s with the Buffalo Ankerites, a team in a mines league that played in mining towns in northern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. From 1944-45 to 1947-48, he played for Shawinigan and Sherbrooke of the semi-professional Quebec Provincial League and was named most valuable player in 1946, 1947 and 1948.
In 1948, Carnegie was given a tryout with the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
and offered a contract to play in the Rangers' minor league system. However, he was offered less money than he was earning in the Quebec league and turned down all three offers made by the Rangers organization during his tryout.
Returning to Canada to play in the Quebec Senior Hockey League
Quebec Senior Hockey League
The Quebec Senior Hockey League was an ice hockey league that operated between 1941 and 1959 in Québec, Canada. From 1941, it operated on an amateur basis, before becoming the semi-professional Quebec Hockey League in 1953...
, he played for Sherbrooke St. Francis and the Quebec Aces
Quebec Aces
The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. The Aces were founded in 1928, and played until 1971. The team played home games at the Quebec Coliseum from 1930 to 1971.The Aces were Allan Cup...
before moving to Ontario to play a single season with the Owen Sound Mercuries of the Ontario Senior Hockey Association. During his years in the Quebec Senior League, Carnegie played with future Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
star Jean Beliveau
Jean Béliveau
Jean Arthur "Le Gros Bill" Béliveau, is a former professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens. As a player, he won the Stanley Cup 10 times, and as an executive he was part of another seven championship teams, the most Stanley...
and was coached by Punch Imlach
Punch Imlach
George "Punch" Imlach , was an NHL coach and general manager. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.-Early career:...
.
Facing racism
As a black man playing hockey in the 1940s and 1950s, Carnegie endured his share of racism. In one famous 1938 incident, Conn SmytheConn Smythe
Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...
, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, watched Carnegie play as a member of the Toronto Young Rangers. He is alleged to have said either that he would accept Carnegie on the team if he were white or that he would pay $10,000 to anyone who could turn Carnegie white.
In Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey, author Cecil Harris noted that “some doubt has arisen” as to whether Smythe did indeed utter this remark. According to Harris, Carnegie and others believe that racism played an important part in keeping him out of the NHL. Others interviewed point to his decision to refuse the Rangers offer to play in their organization.
Retirement
After retiring from the game of hockey in 1953, Carnegie started the Future Aces Hockey School, one of the first hockey schools in Canada. In 1954, he wrote the “Future Aces Creed” in an attempt to foster respect, tolerance, diversity and sportsmanship among young people.Carnegie also continued his athletic career as a golfer, winning the Canadian Seniors Golf Championship in 1977 and 1978, and the Ontario Senior Golf Championship in 1975, 1976 and 1982.
In 1987, he established the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation to provide bursaries for college and university. Carnegie also had a successful business career as a financial planner with the Investors Group.
In 1996, he published his biography, A Fly in a Pail of Milk: The Herb Carnegie Story.” (Mosaic Press, 1996).
Carnegie was named to the Order of Ontario
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
in 1996 and the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 2003. On May 2, 2005, the North York Centennial Centre was renamed the Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre in his honour. On June 12, 2006, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. A public school in York Region is named in his honour.
Carnegie is now legally blind.
Family life
Carnegie currently resides in Toronto. He was married to Audrey May Carnegie for 60 years, from 1940 until her death in 2003. They had four children, nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. His grandson, Rane Carnegie, is a hockey player who has played for the Belleville BullsBelleville Bulls
The Belleville Bulls are a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team plays in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League.-History:...
, Plymouth Whalers
Plymouth Whalers
The Plymouth Whalers are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They play out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA.-History:...
, Halifax Mooseheads
Halifax Mooseheads
The Halifax Mooseheads are a CHL ice hockey club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The team was founded in 1994 and began play in the Dilio division of the QMJHL for the 1994-1995 season. While the franchise has never won a league championship, they have...
, Milwaukee Admirals
Milwaukee Admirals
The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA at the Bradley Center.-History:...
and Bakersfield Condors
Bakersfield Condors
The Bakersfield Condors are a minor league ice hockey team based in Bakersfield, California. The team plays in the Pacific Division of the ECHL's Western Conference. The Condors join the Houston Aeros as an affiliate of the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League...
and he plays since 2010 for Rapaces de Gap (Gap is a town in South-East of France).
Appearances in media
In the early 1990s, Carnegie and his Future Aces hockey program were featured in two special issues of The Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
, helping Spider-Man bring down Electro and his hockey puck
Hockey puck
A puck is a disk used in various games serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games. The best-known use of pucks is in ice hockey, a major international sport.- Etymology :The origin of the word "puck" is obscure...
/drug smuggling operation (issue 1, Skating on Thin Ice) and foil the Chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
's plan to steal a valuable chemical formula (issue 2). The comics were set in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
and Fredericton, respectively.