| Larry Kwong | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.png) Larry Kwong pictured with the Vernon Hydrophones in the 1938–39 season | |||
| Born | (1923-06-17)June 17, 1923 Vernon, British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Died | March 15, 2018(2018-03-15) (aged 94) Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | New York Rangers | ||
| Playing career | 1941–1959 | ||
Lawrence Kwong (bornEng Kai Geong;Chinese:吳啟光;pinyin:Wú Qǐguāng;Cantonese Yale:Ǹgh Káigwōng; June 17, 1923 – March 15, 2018) was a Canadian professionalice hockeyright winger who was the first player of Asian descent in theNational Hockey League (NHL),[1] playing a short shift at the end of the third period. He was the NHL's first player who was neitherwhite, norAboriginal North American, debuting ten years beforeWillie O'Ree. Although denied much playing time in the NHL, Kwong was a top player in senior hockey leagues outside the NHL throughout his entire career and battled the likes ofJean Beliveau for the scoring race in Quebec.
Kwong came from aCantonese-speaking family, and was also the first NHL player fromVernon, British Columbia, and theOkanagan region. Kwong's nicknames included the "China Clipper" and "King Kwong".[2]
After his playing days, he lived in Europe and became the first ethnic Chinese coach of a professional hockey club inSwitzerland. In his later years, he returned to Canada and operated a supermarket, following his father's footsteps.
Kwong was born in 1923 inVernon, British Columbia, as the second youngest of 15 children born to hisCantonese-speaking father who had two wives.[2][3] His father had immigrated from China in 1884 for the gold rush inCherry Creek, BC, but later failed.[4] His father later started farming and then went into the grocery business in Vernon, British Columbia, calling his storeKwong Hing Lung. Larry's Chinese surname wasEng, but decided to take the name of his father's store as the last name in his English name.[2]
Just two weeks after his birth, the government of the Dominion of Canada enacted theChinese Exclusion Act of 1923 which completely prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering Canada.[5] Kwong faced numerous acts of racial discrimination during his youthful years in Vernon, as he recalled being denied service at a barbershop because of his ethnic background.[4]
Kwong had practiced ice hockey on frozen ponds in Vernon and had not played organized hockey until he joined the Vernon Hydrophones when he was 16 years old.[6] He powered the Vernon Hydrophones to the midget hockey championship of BC in 1939 and then to the provincial juvenile title in 1941.[7] As an 18-year-old, Kwong jumped the junior ranks to play senior hockey after a try-out for the elite semi-professionalTrail Smoke Eaters, who had won the1939 World Ice Hockey Championships. In Trail, players who made the roster got good-paying jobs at a local smelter, but Kwong was denied a job because of his Chinese heritage. Instead, he was sent to a nearby hotel to work as abellhop.[8]
In 1942, theChicago Black Hawks invited Kwong to training camp, but "the Canadian government refused to process the documentation needed to leave the country".[9]
In 1944, Kwong was drafted into theCanadian Army. Instead of being deployed overseas, he was selected to join"Sugar" Jim Henry andMac Colville on theRed Deer Wheelers of the Central Alberta Garrison Hockey League. The Wheelers defeated the Calgary Combines (starring two-time NHL scoring championSweeney Schriner) in the playoff semi-final, before falling to Calgary Currie Army (whose roster includedHart Trophy winnersMax Bentley andTommy Anderson) in the final series.[10]
AfterWorld War II, Kwong returned to Trail and won the provincial senior hockey championship with the Smoke Eaters in 1946. In that BC Final series against theNew Westminster Royals, Kwong led the Smokies in scoring (tied withMike Buckna) and scored theSavage Cup-winning goal.[11]
Later in 1946,Lester Patrick scouted Kwong and was impressed, signing him for theNew York Rovers, afarm team of theNew York Rangers.[12] Kwong scored a goal in his debut for the Rovers against theBoston Olympics inBoston on October 27, 1946.[13] AtMadison Square Garden on November 17, 1946, Shavey Lee presented Kwong with the Keys toNew York's Chinatown. Kwong went on to lead the New York Rovers in scoring in 1947–1948 with 86 points in 65 games.
On March 13, 1948, Kwong became the first player of Asian descent to play in the NHL. Kwong was not the first non-white player, having been preceded by Aboriginal Canadians,Paul Jacobs andHenry Maracle,[1] andOjibwe AmericanTaffy Abel. He wore number 11 and played againstMaurice Richard and theMontreal Canadiens in theMontreal Forum. This event came less than a year afterJackie Robinson shattered thebaseball color line in the US. During this game, Kwong was benched until late in the third period, when he was sent to play the final shift of the game. Spending less than a minute on the ice, he tallied no points in what would be his only big-league game.[14][15][16][17]
While several other Rover forwards were called to play subsequent games, Kwong was not, despite being the Rovers' top scorer.[18] Kwong became convinced that he would not get an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level with the Rangers, and left the Rangers organization at the end of the season. In the off-season, Kwong accepted a more lucrative offer to play for theValleyfield Braves of theQuebec Senior Hockey League.[2]
Kwong went on to have a long and successful career in senior leagues inCanada and theUnited States. Coached byToe Blake, Kwong was named as an alternate captain of the Valleyfield Braves. In 1951 Kwong won the Vimy Trophy as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the QSHL. That year, he led the Valleyfield Braves to the league championship and then to theAlexander Cup, the Canadian major senior title. In the following QSHL season (1951–52), Kwong's 38 goals were topped only byJean Béliveau's 45 tallies. In his nine-year tenure in the Quebec League, competing against future NHL All-Stars such as Béliveau,Jacques Plante,Dickie Moore,Gerry McNeil andJean-Guy Talbot, Kwong averaged better than a point per game. Béliveau, who later became a Hall of Fame inductee, said: "Larry made his wing men look good because he was a great passer. He was doing what a centre man is supposed to do."[2]
Kwong accepted an offer to play and coach hockey inEngland and, later, inLausanne,Switzerland, before it even became fashionable to play in Europe.[19] He expected only to stay for a year, but remained in Europe for 15 years. "I went there to coach ice hockey and then after six years of coaching, I decided to start teaching tennis as a tennis pro."[14] Kwong spent one season with theNottingham Panthers inBritain, scoring 55 goals in 55 games, before moving toSwitzerland where he ledHC Ambrì-Piotta in scoring as player-coach.[20] With this coaching assignment, he became the first person of Chinese descent to coach a professional hockey team.[21] He later coachedHC Lugano andHC Lausanne. Kwong also became a tennis coach inSwitzerland.
Kwong was married to Audrey Craven (1929–1979) inNottingham in 1964. The couple had one daughter, Kristina (Dean) Heintz.[22] In 1972 Kwong returned to Canada with his family to run Food-Vale Supermarket (Kwong Hing Lung) with his brother, Jack. In 1989 Kwong married Janine Boyer. He was widowed for a second time in 1999. Retired from the grocery business, he lived inCalgary, Alberta. Kwong died on March 15, 2018, in Calgary.[14][23]
Kwong has been honoured on numerous occasions. Below is a list of select honours:
1939: British Columbia Midget Hockey Championship
1941: British Columbia Provincial Juvenile Title
1946: Leading scorer on theTrail Smoke Eaters
1946:Savage Cup Winner; scored the cup-winning goal
1948: Leading scorer on theNew York Rovers (86 points in 65 games), the top minor league team for the New York Rangers
1948: Breaking the NHL's colour 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 theQSHL, leader in assists (51), second in points (85), third in scoring (34)[4]
1951: QSHL Championship
1951:Alexander Cup winner. This cup is theCanadian national majorsenior 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 theNottingham Panthers at age 35
2002: Calgary's Asian Heritage Month Award
2009: Heritage Award from the Society of North American Historians and Researchers (SONAHR)[24]
2010:Okanagan Hockey Group's inaugural Pioneer Award in 2010[25]
November 23, 2011, Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame in the Athlete category.[26]
September 19, 2013, Honoured Member of theB.C. Sports Hall of Fame.[27][28]
July 23, 2016, Honoured Member of the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.[29][30]
Kwong's game-worn 1942–43 Nanaimo Clippers sweater hangs in theHockey Hall of Fame as a part of its exhibitThe Changing Face of Hockey – Diversity in Our Game.[31]
2009: Honoured by theVernon Vipers of theBritish Columbia Hockey League in apre-game ceremony[24]
2009: Saluted by theCalgary Flames of theNational Hockey League at theSaddledome.[2]
2011: Kwong's story is featured in the documentary filmLost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice (2011), written, directed and produced by Kenda Gee andTom Radford.[32][33]
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.[34]
2015:King Kwong: Larry Kwong, the China Clipper who Broke the NHL Colour Barrier, a biography by Paula Johanson, was published.[35]
2024:The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey, a biography by Chad Soon andGeorge Chiang, was published byOrca Book Publishers.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1940–41 | 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 | Red Deer Wheelers | ASHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1945–46 | Trail Smoke Eaters | WKHL | 19 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 1945–46 | Trail Smoke Eaters | Al-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 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 | 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 | ||
| 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 | QSHL | 68 | 24 | 25 | 49 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1954–55 | Valleyfield Braves | QSHL | 50 | 24 | 30 | 54 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1955–56 | Trois-Rivieres Lions | QSHL | 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 | 33 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 1957–58 | Nottingham Panthers | BNL | 31 | 39 | 15 | 54 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| QSHL totals | 494 | 215 | 281 | 496 | 139 | 44 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 13 | ||||
| NHL totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
