Michigan’s Marshall Warren was the only Black player at this year’s Frozen Four played last week in St. Paul. He is one of five Black college hockey players the MSR interviewed during this season.
“Obviously, it’s not where it should be,” admitted Warren on hockey’s diversity. The six-foot defenseman from Laurel Hollow, New York played four seasons at Boston College, then his graduate year in Ann Arbor. He made the All-Tournament team and scored a goal in the Wolverines’ win over Michigan State to advance to the Frozen Four for an NCAA record 28th time.
“It’s been a really good year and just couldn’t get it to win,” noted Warren after Michigan’s 4-0 defeat to Boston College in last Thursday’s NCAA semifinals. “I’m so proud of this group because we’ve been through a lot.
“Michigan’s a special place, and it was a no-brainer when I got the opportunity to go here,” he pointed out. “I’m just so thankful and blessed.”
Last Friday at the Frozen Four, a “State of the Game” press conference was held. The four panelists—UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin; NCAA Rules Committee Chair Eric Martinson; Jeff Schulman, NCAA DI Hockey Committee chair and University of Vermont AD; and Hockey East Commissioner Steve Metcalf.
The panel all agreed with Martinson that hockey “is in a great place.” But when pressed by the MSR on college hockey being more diverse for fans and players, Metcalf said, “It’s a long game.” A Minnesota Wild arena worker told us that he saw fewer than 10 Blacks in attendance at the three games last weekend.
“The intent is to try to grow some awareness and bring the game to places it hasn’t been,” added Metcalf, “trying to work with the NHL folks in communities where the NHL and college hockey both exist.
“We all know that hockey has never been as diverse as perhaps we would all like it to be,” he admitted.
After the press conference, Metcalf further explained to the MSR, “It’s not like a light switch where we can flip the switch and you just fixed everything.”
The Hockey East leader pointed out that there have been several initiatives to introduce hockey to Blacks and other underserved communities. Metcalf recalled a program at the University of New Hampshire where Blacks were taken to a hockey game, some of them for the first time ever.
“We’ve tried to do an initiative with the [Boston] Bruins where we tried to get some of the inner-city neighborhoods, get them some equipment, get them on the ice,” Metcalf said. He also suggested a similar program in areas that have both an NHL team and a college team in bringing college players to do clinics and create more interest in hockey.
“That’s a conversation that’s ongoing,” said Metcalf.
Surmised Warren, a sixth-round pick by Minnesota in the 2019 NHL draft, “I just hope in the future I see 10 people that look like me on the ice, because that’d be special. “I think hockey should be for everyone. It’s such a great sport, and I’m just blessed to be able to play.”