For Dawson, a Black hockey historian and retired Canada government human resources employee, the feat conjured memories of the legendary Black Aces line of Herb Carnegie, his brother Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre.
That high-scoring line played for Sherbrooke of the Quebec Provincial Hockey League, among other teams, in the 1940s. Herb Carnegie, who died March 9, 2012, was regarded as one of the best players never to reach the NHL.
"It was the moment, three Blacks being out there playing together against basically an all-white team and league," Dawson said. "Mind you, we didn't play a full season as a line. It was that one occasion and a couple of other occasions that we played together."
Like the Black Aces, Dawson, Maxwell and Paris endured racist taunts and abuse while trying to play the game they loved.
"It wasn't until I played university hockey in 1967 with Saint Mary's that I experienced it," Dawson said. "In 1967-68 when I went to places like Prince Edward Island. During warmups you'd hear fans call out names. … During the game there were one or two opposing players who would echo the same kind of slurs. They'd try to take certain liberties with you in terms of cheap shots, spearing and whacking you behind the legs and slew-footing you."
But that didn't deter the three Black players and the rest of the Saint Mary's team. The university played in four consecutive Canada college national championship games from 1970-74.
The players credit Boucher, who was 231-33 with four ties in 13 seasons at Saint Mary's, for the team's success.
"Our coach was a bit ahead of his time," said Maxwell, who worked for the Canada government in its human resources and revenue divisions. "He had been to Russia and studied their system prior to a lot of people in North America paying attention to the Russians."