In Play Magazine
Feature Article
December 2009
Darren Banks. Photo Courtesy the Boston Bruins
In Play! sat down with now retired NHL enforcer Darren Banks to talk about racism in the NHL, what the league has done to diversify the sport of hockey and his contributions to the game at the minor league level. Banks also talks about the “Hockey in the Hood” program started by Willie O’Ree who was the first black player in the NHL and played his first game in 1958. Banks played 20 games in his NHL from 1992-1994, all with the Boston Bruins. Banks was best known as an enforcer, averaging almost four penalty minutes a game in his career. Banks is originally from Toronto but now resides in Windsor, Ontario.
So grab on and hold on!
In Play! – Darren, you played 20 games and had two goals, two assists and 73 penalty minutes. You obviously were an enforcer; did you enjoy your role out on the ice?
Darren Banks – Of course, that was the one way I knew I was going to play in the league was doing that. It took me three years; my first three years were in the minors, when I played in Salt Lake trying to make it up for Calgary. You know different circumstances, I didn’t make it up with Calgary but the following year I made it up with Boston. I knew it was a way for me to play in the league and it’s what I enjoyed to do.
IP – Even today, in the NHL, there are not many black players, and when you played it was even more rare. Did you ever encounter any racism in the NHL or even in the minors?
DM – You know, not any more than a French guy would get teased about being French. It wasn’t really prevalent, and if you’re a smart hockey player you’re not going to antagonize a guy who’s a fighter. If I had been a goal scorer I think it might have been a little different, you’re not going to antagonize a fighter, because he’ll kick your head in. I didn’t run into a lot of it, a little here and there, but the guys who are going to pull that stuff are a bit of an asshole anyway.
Read the complete article HERE.
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