Color of Hockey: Players from Canadian Maritimes forge path to NCAA

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 Tanner Tolliver and Taylor Ewing, who are among the few Black players from the Canadian Maritimes to play NCAA hockey.

Tanner Tolliver and Taylor Ewing each is taking a trailblazing path on his hockey journey.
The distant cousins from Nova Scotia are among the few Black players who have ventured from the Canadian Maritimes to play NCAA hockey in the United States.
Tolliver is a 21-year-old forward who recently completed his freshman season at Lebanon Valley College, an NCAA Division III school in Annville, Pennsylvania.
Ewing, a 22-year-old forward, recently wrapped up his freshman campaign at Northland College, a Division III school in Ashland, Wisconsin.
"I think it's a big deal because he (Ewing) and I are all the way in the U.S. as Black players from the Maritimes, [which] is something kids may be able to look up to," said Tolliver, who had four goals in 16 games for Lebanon Valley. "We can be sources of guidance for any other up-and-coming Black players from the Maritimes on what we did and what work it takes to get to the point that we're at right now."

Ewing said he's proud to show young players back home who aspire to play professionally that there is another route besides major junior hockey.
"Growing up, I kind of knew that I was a role model, but now it's on a bigger scale," said Ewing, who had six points (three goals, three assists) in 18 games with Northland. "This can be an eye-opener to a lot of Black players in Atlantic Canada."
Dean Smith hopes so. He's a Hockey Nova Scotia board member and the organization's diversity and inclusion chair.
He's also a board member for the Black Ice Hockey & Sports Hall of Fame Society, which partners with Hockey Nova Scotia on an initiative that provides Black youth between the ages of 5 and 10 with basic hockey instruction to help introduce them to the sport.
"With respect to African Nova Scotians, what Tanner and Taylor are doing means the world because it shows another avenue in which players who succeed at the game here in the Maritimes can pursue and obtain their university and college degrees," Smith said. "We run a number of programs here that can filter into the path that Tanner and Taylor have taken. We run the Black youth ice hockey program here in Halifax for over a decade now. Tanner volunteered with our program way back in the day."

Smith said Tolliver and Ewing playing U.S. college hockey adds to the Maritimes' rich hockey history. The region was home of the Colored Hockey League, an all-Black league that operated from 1895 to the 1930s with catchy names like the Jubilees, Stanleys, Eurekas, Sea-Sides and Moss Backs.
Tolliver said he has paid homage to that history by playing in Black History Month games that honored the Colored Hockey League over the years.
He said he set his sights on NCAA hockey as a teenager, drawn by the images and description of U.S. college life he saw on social media. He and Ewing also said they were lured by the academics; Tolliver is majoring in biochemistry and Ewing is studying business.
Tolliver said the transition to U.S. college hockey wasn't easy on or off the ice.
"In the beginning it was an adjustment, not necessarily to the physical aspect of playing against older men, but to the thinking speed of the game," he said. "Something I didn't expect in college hockey was the balancing of academics and athletics -- it's time-consuming. Time management, I believe I have gotten to the point where I've improved on that. So college hockey is everything I expected, and more."
Ewing agreed.
"It makes it even much better knowing that I can do this, playing hockey on top of a full course load, playing throughout the U.S.," he said. "It's really kind of nice I can be a positive influence on some young kids back home in Halifax."
Photos: Lebanon Valley College, Northland College