Kukla's Korner Hockey
Climbing to the NHL
by Alanah McGinley on 10/14/07 at 03:40 AM ET
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From Edward Guthmann at the San Francisco Chronicle,
In the world of Xavier Louis Reed, a collarbone fracture is nothing. Same goes for the 800 miles he travels each weekend for hockey practice, the equipment he has to lug, the time away from his mom and dad and the social life he’ll miss because of his breakneck schedule.
Such are the sacrifices of a 14-year-old, 6-foot-2-inch athlete with world-class potential. Reed, a freshman at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, is one of the best American hockey players in his age group. He played two seasons for the San Jose Junior Sharks, won a place on the West Coast Selects at 12 and this year joined the Los Angeles Hockey Club, a top-ranked Tier 1 AAA team, as defenseman.
Each year there are dozens, maybe hundreds of young guys with serious prospects for a National Hockey League career. Unlike Louie, as he is called by his family, nearly all of them are white. With 30 NHL teams and roughly 24 players on each team, black players make up 1 to 2 percent of the league.
continued… (*a great, in-depth article about a promising young African-American player and his journey to making the NHL)
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