Color of Hockey: Black players in Capitals history to be honored in song

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Black History Month, he profiles the Washington Capitals debuting a song honoring the franchise's 11 Black players as part of their Black History Day game Saturday.

Saukrates wants it to be 90 seconds that lasts forever.
The award-winning Canadian rap artist hopes a tribute song he performs honoring the 11 Black players in Washington Capitals history will have a long shelf life, and not be a one-hit wonder.
The 90-second tune and video debuts Saturday, when the Capitals host the New York Rangers (1 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN NOW) at Capital One Arena as part of the team's Black History Day celebration.
"They (Capitals) do it every year, Black History Month," Saukrates said. "They didn't want to just come in and say, 'OK, yeah, we do this once a year and everybody go away, we'll go back to our regular lives.' They wanted some staying power throughout the year. I agree with the fact that music, good music, quality music, has staying power and allows their campaign to stretch beyond February."

The song, a collaboration between Capitals officials and Saukrates, pays homage to Mike Marson (1974-79), who became the second Black player in the NHL, 16 years after Willie O'Ree debuted with the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958; Bill Riley (1974-79); Reginald Savage (1990-93), Anson Carter (1996-97, 2003-04), Mike Grier (2002-04), Jason Doig (2002-04), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (2003-04), Donald Brashear (2006-09), Joel Ward (2011-15), Madison Bowey (2017-19) and Devante Smith-Pelly (2017-19).
The tune also gives lyrical nods to Black Washington culture from its famous eateries and venues to the pioneers of the distinctly District Go-Go music sound to the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, North America's oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program.
"This song is a unique way to honor an extremely important part of our organization's history with Black alumni and various tie-ins to Washington, D.C.," said Amanda Tischler, the Capitals senior vice president of marketing. "We can't wait for fans to be able to hear and appreciate it."
Alexandria Briggs-Blake came up with the idea for the song. She's a member of the Capitals Black Hockey Committee and president of the Tucker Road Parent Hockey Organization, a suburban Washington minority-oriented youth hockey group.
Briggs-Blake said she thought it would be a good way to help educate people who haven't had the opportunity to see the Capitals' Black hockey exhibit permanently on display inside Capital One Arena.
She was inspired by a song performed by actor Malcolm Jamal Warner that honored Black historical figures.
"I heard that and immediately thought, 'We could do something like this to pay tribute to Black Washington Capitals hockey players,'" she said. "I pitched the idea to the Capitals, and they said, 'Yeah, that sounds good, let's see what you can come with.' So I got my poetic skills working and I wrote a tribute to each of the players."

Team officials spoke with Canadian filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason, director of the documentaries "NHL Bound" and "Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future" and the upcoming "Ice Queens." He recommended Saukrates for the project. The rapper, who grew up as a classically trained violinist, wrote music for "Soul on Ice."
Briggs-Blake gave the Scarborough, Ontario-based Saukrates an oral history of Washington to help him craft the song's lyrics.
"I love hockey, my brother and I grew up playing the sport," said Saukrates, who wrote a song for a 2011 Nike commercial featuring retired NHL defenseman-turned ESPN hockey analyst P.K. Subban. "My brother and I grew up playing the sport. He was born in Edmonton while we were out there for seven years during the Oilers dynasty."
The tribute song is part of a busy Black History Day at Capital One Arena. The Capitals will wear special warmup jerseys designed by illustrator Robert Generette III, also known as Zilla, that will be signed and auctioned to benefit the Capitals' Capital Impact Fund.
Smith-Pelly returns for the first time since he retired on Dec. 30 to take part in the ceremonial puck drop beforethe game.
Smith-Pelly played eight NHL seasons and became a Washington sports legend when he went from bottom-six forward to a pivotal player during the Capitals' drive to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018.

He had seven goals in 24 playoff games during that run, matching his total in 75 games that regular season, including one each in Games, 3, 4, and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The last goal, at 9:52 of the third period of Game 5, tied it 3-3 and set the stage for Lars Eller's Cup-winning goal 2:31 later.
Selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round (No. 42) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Smith-Pelly had 101 points (44 goals, 57 assists) in 395 games with the Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Capitals from 2011-19.
Smith-Pelly said he's excited about visiting a place where he had some of his greatest moments.
"Obviously, going back is special," he said. "It will be fun to see everyone. I hope it's a nice ovation."
Photos: Washington Capitals, Saukrates