Larry “King” Kwong (First Player To Break The NHL Color Barrier)

Larry “King” Kwong (born June 17, 1923-March 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is best known as the first player of Asian descent to play in the (NHL), breaking the color barrier in 1948.

In addition to being the first non-white player to play in the NHL, Kwong was also the first NHL player from Vernon, British Columbia. He garnered several nicknames, such as “King Kwong” and “China Clipper.”

Although Kwongs NHL experience was short-lived, playing for about one minute late in the third period of a game against the Montreal Canadians, he was an exceptional minor-league player. He scored 30 or more goals in a season three times, playing in 63 games or less in each of those seasons. His best production was in 1950-51 when he amassed 34 goals and 51 assists for 85 points in 60 games. The following season Kwong finished second in goals with 38 challenging the great Jean Beliveau with 45 goals for the scoring race. The “China Clipper” was a consistent point producer for his entire career.

Kwong played the bulk of his minor league career with the Valleyfield Braves of the QSHL and ended his hockey career in 1958 with the Nottingham Panthers of the United Kingdom while playing in the Autumn Cup competition.

Early Development

In 1942, Kwong was invited to the Chicago Black Hawks training camp, but “the Canadian government refused to process the documentation needed to leave the country.”

Larry “King” Kwong learned how to play hockey by practicing on frozen ponds in Vernon, B.C., and hadn’t had any exposure to organized hockey until he joined the Vernon Hydrophones at the late age of 16 years old. Upon joining the Hydrophones, Kwong enjoyed immediate success, winning the midget hockey championship of B.C. in 1939 and the provincial juvenile crown in 1941. With two years of experience in organized hockey, Kwong then catapulted to senior hockey after trying out for the Trail Smoke Eaters, the 1939 World Ice Hockey Champions. If you were good enough to make the Smoke Eaters roster at this time in the trail, then it was a foregone conclusion that you would gain lucrative employment at the local smelter. Still, he was denied work because of Larry’s racial heritage and was forced to find alternative work as a bellhop at a local hotel. He was subjected to further acts of discrimination when a local barber denied him service.

Breaking The Barrier

On March 13, 1948, Larry Kwong became the first non-white player to break the color barrier when he made his only appearance in the NHL, wearing his number 11 playing for the New York Rangers against Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadians at the Montreal Forum. This breakthrough came less than a year after baseball legend Jackie Robinson smashed the baseball color barrier in the U.S.

Coaching Career

After hockey, he moved to Switzerland, where he once again set another first, becoming the first ethnic Chinese coach of a professional hockey team. Although he only intended to coach for one season, he would stay for fifteen. Larry Kwong later coached HC Lugano and HC Lausanne and ventured into tennis, where he would coach. After his time in Europe, he returned to Canada, where he operated a supermarket.

Commentary

It’s sad and upsetting to know that due to racial prejudices, hockey robbed itself and its fans of great talent like Larry Kwong and Willie O’Ree. We can only wonder how much of an impact they would have had on hockey if only they had not been obstructed by the racial intolerance of their time. What’s even worse is that these men were Canadians who only wanted to be accepted as first-class citizens but were treated as second-class citizens. Being forced to live a life full of unfulfilled dreams because of others’ evil prejudices and having to live more impoverished than they would have if they hadn’t had to endure the intolerance of the times.

I hope that no one should ever have to go through what Larry Kwong and Willie O’Ree went through; they are powerful individuals for having to overcome an unnecessary stigma, and for this only, they deserve to be remembered as shining lights in a dark world.

In sports, as in life, you should be judged on the merit of your ability, not on race: color, or creed. If you have the talent to make it to elite levels in any ambition in life, then you should be rewarded with the opportunity to show the world what you can offer; otherwise, we all lose.

Kwong died on March 15, 2018, in Calgary. He was survived by his daughter, Kristina (Dean) Heintz; granddaughters, Samantha and Madison; sisters, Betty Chan and Ina Ng; sisters-in-law, Janet, Irene, and Georgina; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Achievements

1939: British Columbia Midget Hockey Championship

1941: British Columbia Provincial Juvenile Title

1946: Leading scorer on the Trail Smoke Eaters

1946: Savage Cup Winner; scored the cup-winning goal

1948: Leading scorer on the New York Rovers (86 points in 65 games), the top minor league team for the New York Rangers

1948: Breaking the NHL’s color barrier by playing for the New York Rangers as the first non-white player in the league.

1951: Byng of Vimy Trophy winner as MVP of the QSHL, leader in assists (51), second in points (85), third in scoring (34)

1951: QSHL Championship

1951: Alexander Cup winner. This cup is the Canadian national major senior ice hockey championship trophy.

1952: Second in QSHL league-scoring with 38 goals, only behind Jean Beliveau’s 45 goals

1958: 55 goals in 55 games for the Nottingham Panthers at age 35

Awards

2002: Calgary’s Asian Heritage Month Award

2009: Heritage Award from the Society of North American Historians and Researchers (SONAHR)

2010: Okanagan Hockey Group’s inaugural Pioneer Award in 2010

November 23, 2011, Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame in the Athlete category.

September 19, 2013, Honoured Member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

July 23, 2016, Honoured Member of the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kwong’s game-worn 1942–43 Nanaimo Clippers sweater hangs in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a part of its exhibit, The Changing Face of Hockey – Diversity in Our Game. 

Honorary appearances

2009: Honoured by the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League in a pre-game ceremony

2009: Saluted by the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League at the Saddledome.

Movies and Media

2011: Kwong’s story is featured in the documentary film Lost Years: A People’s Struggle for Justice (2011), written, directed, and produced by Kenda Gee and Tom Radford.

2014: The Shift: The Story of the China Clipper, a documentary by Chester Sit, Wes Miron, and Tracy Nagai, had its theatrical premiere in Vernon, BC.^[

2015: King Kwong: Larry Kwong, the China Clipper who Broke the NHL Colour Barrier, a biography by Paula Johanson, was published.

Career statistics Larry “King” Kwong

		Regular season		Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1938–41	Vernon Hydrophones	BCAHA
1941–42	Trail Smoke Eaters	ABCHL	29	9	13	22	10	3	0	0	0	0
1942–43	Nanaimo Clippers	VISHL	11	6	6	12	0	3	0	1	1	2
1943–44	Vancouver St. Regis	NNDHL	17	10	6	16	0
1943–44	Red Deer Wheelers	CAGHL	2	0	0	0	0	5	1	2	3	0
1944–45	Did not play
1945–46	Trail Smoke Eaters	WKHL	19	12	8	20	12	5	6	0	6	8
1946–47	New York Rovers	EAHL	47	19	18	37	15	9	7	3	10	0
1947–48	New York Rangers	NHL	1	0	0	0	0
1947–48	New York Rovers	EAHL	17	13	16	29	5
1947–48	New York Rovers	QSHL	48	20	37	57	23	4	1	0	1	0
1948–49	Valleyfield Braves	QSHL	63	37	47	84	8	3	1	0	1	7
1949–50	Valleyfield Braves	QSHL	60	25	35	60	16	5	2	1	3	2
1950–51	Valleyfield Braves	QSHL	60	34	51	85	35	16	1	12	13	2
1950–51	Valleyfield Braves	Alx-Cup	12	6	9	15	4
1951–52	Valleyfield Braves	QSHL	60	38	28	66	16	6	1	5	6	0
1952–53	Valleyfield Braves	QSHL	56	10	22	32	6	3	0	2	2	0
1953–54	Valleyfield Braves	QHL	68	24	25	49	17	7	3	3	6	2
1954–55	Valleyfield Braves	QHL	50	24	30	54	8
1955–56	Trois-Rivieres Lions	QHL	29	3	6	9	10
1955–56	Troy Bruins	IHL	21	9	9	18	2	5	1	2	3	2
1956–57	Troy Bruins	IHL	9	1	0	1	0
1956–57	Cornwall Chevies	OHA Sr. A	33	14	15	29	22	6	5	1	6	0
1957–58	Nottingham Panthers	BNL	31	39	15	54	6
1957–58	Nottingham Panthers	Aut-Cup	24	16	9	25	4

In the comments, please let everyone know, Should Larry Kwong be inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame?

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