Evander Kane on Canada’s Stanley Cup drought
Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane shares his thoughts on Canada’s Stanley Cup drought.
Sports Seriously
More than a decade ago, Gerald McBride was invited to a University of Michigan men’s hockey game by a client whose son was playing for the opposing team. It was his first time attending a hockey game and it made a lasting impression on him.
“It is completely sold out and I’m the only Black guy in the entire arena,” said McBride, who left the event wanting to know more about the history of Black players in the National Hockey League and wound up inspired to make a movie.
On Friday, “Black Ice: The Rhythm” opens for a weeklong run in metro Detroit at metro Detroit theaters Emagine Canton, the Birmingham 8 Powered by Emagine and the Riviera Powered by Emagine in Farmington Hills. It also will be screening at Emagine Birch Run near Flint and another Emagine theater in Minneapolis.
Directed and written by McBride, a longtime Detroit radio host and producer of TV and radio advertisements, the film is a contemporary story that also pays tribute to the long, unsung history of Black hockey players — a legacy that goes back to a Black hockey league formed in 1895 in Nova Scotia.
It follows a gifted young amateur hockey player, Robert (Buck) Taylor, who must put aside his dreams of going pro after a fight with a racist white player sends him to prison. Out on parole, he is tasked with coaching a fledgling youth hockey team at an inner-city Detroit rink that is in danger of being shut down to line the pockets of some local politicians.
“Black Ice: The Rhythm” has a narrative about an underdog team that touches similar emotional chords to “The Mighty Ducks” and “The Karate Kid.” It’s aimed at families and is described as faith-friendly. Winning is one aspect of the team’s quest, but so is making good choices and believing in yourself.
For McBride, who’s celebrating 45 years in radio, the project was more than a new twist to a lengthy career. “It wasn’t about making a bunch of money, but a message that needed to be shared,” he said in a recent phone interview.
The Mumford High graduate had his first brush with radio in 1975 when he represented his school as a Soul Teen Reporter through a program at WJLB-FM (97.9). “Each student would get the opportunity to go to the radio station and report on what was happening at their high school each week,” he recalled. “Once I got a chance to get inside the…
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