Herb Carnegie is a Hockey Hall of Famer.
It was a moment that was decades in the making and long overdue for a person whose impact on the sport and Canadian culture hasn’t been forgotten.
When Bernice and Dale Carnegie finished their speeches about their late father on Monday night, they both received a standing ovation in Meridian Hall. Attendants paid their respects to a man who wanted to see the sport pushed forward in front of a crowd that contained many Black faces from Canada’s sporting landscape.
This moment was a years-long journey finally reaching its goal for Bryant McBride, co-founder of the Carnegie Initiative and the NHL’s first Black executive.
“This is the culmination of so many years of work of Bernice and Rane (Carnegie), and all of the family to just realize this incredible dream,” said McBride. “Frankly, a lot of us were never sure this was going to happen. We were concerned we’d never see this day, but we’re here.”
It was difficult not to feel emotional. Bernice Carnegie wanted those in attendance and all watching to continue her father’s work to improve the game and break down the barriers of race, gender and sexual orientation to make this sport better.
The term “builder” might be an understatement to describe Carnegie, who’s been referred to as the best player never to make the NHL due to racism. Late Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau also said he partially learned how to play the sport from his teammate’s smooth skating and stickhandling when they were on the Quebec Aces.
Carnegie created Canada’s first registered hockey school, Future Aces, in December 1955, “exactly the same week that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, Ala. on that bus that lit the fuse to the civil rights movement,” said McBride.
“He was doing that work in December 1955 and then did it for six decades – wow,” McBride said.
Carnegie later created the Future Aces Foundation in 1987 and has helped more than 1 million children across Canada. He was named to the Order of Ontario, then the Order of Canada, and he’s been inducted into 13 other halls of fame, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The work to get hockey’s highest platform to induct Mr. Carnegie goes back more than a decade. That said, keeping his name alive for his work in the game and induction campaign never died.
The most impactful work came from his daughter Bernice, the Carnegie Initiative co-founder, and his grandson Rane, a former QMJHL star with the Halifax Mooseheads and founder of O.W.N. Hockey, a mentorship and life skills development camp.
On July 1, 2020, Rane launched a campaign on Change.org to get his grandfather his proper due. The petition gained momentum and saw more than 10,000 signatures supporting the enshrinement of his grandfather.
The petition brought back his name for many into consideration, and seeing his grandfather inducted showed the importance of having more BIPOC voices honored in the sport.
“It’s no secret that representation matters – if you see it, you can believe it, you can dream it.” Carnegie said. “To have another BIPOC athlete in the Hall of Fame to join Grant Fuhr, Willie O’Ree, Angela James, and Jarome Iginla just goes to show that we can do it, and all we need is an opportunity and a bit of luck, and it takes a little bit of hard work.”
Rane Carnegie said Herb’s induction was something that hopefully inspires the next generation of players from various backgrounds as roles in the game become more diverse.
“I think with my grandfather being inducted in the Hall of Fame, it helps with that next wave of the story, the attention that its garnered,” Carnegie said. “As we start to get more and more representation in those hall of fames, and management, coaching and playing positions, it’s just going to make this game the best it can be.”
Playing a role in helping Herb’s vision to improve the sport’s inclusion and culture means a lot to Bryant McBride.
“To see what has transpired and the fruition of his vision, the fact that we get to carry that a little bit more is one of the greatest honors of my life,” McBride said.
Herb Carnegie’s impact on the hockey world will no longer be overlooked or lost. Now, it will be on everyone involved in the sport to ensure what he started continues for future generations.
