Players want NHL to increase diversity, anti-racism efforts

For too long, Matt Dumba felt he was on his own dealing with racial taunts directed at him as a youngster growing up in Saskatchewan.

It was no different for Dumba as an adult, one of just a handful of minority players in the National Hockey League. Even in a circle of his fellow players, the Minnesota defenseman was alone in dropping to one knee on a global stage to silently protest systemic racism.

Some two years since that iconic moment as the league resumed the pandemic-delayed playoffs in Edmonton, Alberta, Dumba has gained some perspective to know he has, in fact, not been alone.

«I'm the first one to say our generation, everything with the phones, social media, it's not an easy world to live in,» Dumba told The Associated Press during a recent interview before shifting his gaze to the past.

«But back then, segregation and just how people of color were treated, it really gives you a different perspective on things, and just how much they did for us to even be in a position where we can make our impact felt in the present,» he added. «It's all of us as a collective, everyone pulling on this rope to better the game.»

Dumba is referring to not only his peers, including members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance he helped establish in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020. The 28-year-old player with a Filipino mother and white father is also referring to those who endured many of the same taunts and confronted intolerance since hockey's earliest days.

He came to this realization while taking part in the filming of the 90-minute documentary titled «Black Ice,» which is set to be released Friday.

The movie ties the past to the present by first highlighting the inroads made and