Blogs The death of the first Chinese player of NHL

As a non-white player in the history of NHL's first debut, Chinese-born player Larry Kwong died Friday at his home in Calgary, Canada, at the age of 94.

This pioneer of breaking the racial divide, Wu Qiguang, who is nearly a hundred years old, said in a recent interview with foreign media. “I don’t care how high my hockey achievements are. I just want someone to remember me. Nothing more.” From 1948 In the Forum Arena of the year, after 70 years in the international NHL arena, Wu Qiguang used his "Ice hockey level that did not fully play." It was remembered by history and inspired generations of hockey players.

The death of the first Chinese player of NHL broke the spirit of racial separation

As the penultimate of 15 children in the family, on June 17, 1923, Wu Qiguang was born in Vernon, BC, Canada. The Canadian Federal Government passed the Chinese Immigration Act (1923) that year. Apart from businessmen, diplomats, students, and “special cases”, all Chinese people are not allowed to enter Canada, and a series of terms restrict Chinese people. At that time, there were only three Chinese immigrants in Vernon. They suffered discrimination in all aspects of their lives. Wu Qiguang recalled: “I was excluded in my own place of birth and growth, I could not find a job, and even the barber shop refused to receive me.” That is, in such a special era, we can bred a spirit of even more perseverance. Racial prejudice did not affect Wu Qiguang's love of ice hockey. He and his elder brothers often practiced on ice. At that time, Wu Qi had already established a "big game for winning money to build a house for her mother."

After more than a decade, Wu Qiguang joined some local ice hockey clubs, but he always lost the team's qualifications for race problems, and he can only find job-seekers to supplement his livelihood. However, his ice hockey talent always pulls the balance of fate. Yourself. At the age of 29, Wu Qiguang began to fight in the army league. After the end of World War II, he returned to the provincial league with outstanding performance and attracted the attention of NHL scouts. He entered the youth team through the selection camp. Wu Qiguang was lucky enough to join the New York Rangers's New York team. Cruiser. In the following season, he became the team's scoring king with 65 games and 86 points, and he was successfully summoned by the Rangers.

On March 13, 1948, in this doomed day, Wu Qiguang performed the first NHL career debut on behalf of the Rangers, and challenged Canadians away. It was a historic moment. When Wu Qiguang stepped into Montreal's arena with No. 11 jersey, the skin barriers on the ice hockey were formally broken, and the yellow racemen stood on ice hockey 70 days ago. The highest stage of the sport was 10 years before the first black player landed on the NHL. Although Wu Qiguang played only one minute in the final section of the game, he accepted the Quebec League contract after the end of the season, but this did not hinder his great milestone.

This was a big impulse in Canada and the Chinese community at that time. Wu Qiguang was honored by the New York media as "KING KWONG" and took over from China's New York City Chief Shavey Lee. It symbolizes a great Chinese community. In the key to the welcome and the Canadian Los Angeles Documentary "The Lost Years" 2011, director Kenda Gee also put his experience on the screen and introduced the world to the yellow skin player who has worked tirelessly to eliminate racial discrimination.

After leaving New York, Wu Qiguang moved to the Québec professional league, played against famous players Jean Béliveau and Dickie Moore, and also received guidance from legendary coach Toe Blake. Since then, he has also traveled to Switzerland and the British league.
In 1972, he returned to Canada to run a chain store in Calgary with his brother Jack until he retired in 1996.

Although Wu Qiguang was regarded by the world as a pioneer of ice hockey, he was very humble in his daily life. His friend Soon commented, “He is very humble, but he only loves the sport of ice hockey, and this is his unique personal. charm."

Teresa Woo-Paw, founder and chairman of the Asian Heritage Foundation, said, “We all feel sad for his departure, as the first Chinese to appear in the NHL arena during the Chinese era. Wu Qiguang is definitely the cult of all of us. This is an inspirational model. His story is a powerful counterattack to break racial prejudice and estrangement in the sports world NHL Coins."

Although today's NHL are still dominated by white players, many players from Australia, Japan, South Korea and other non-ice hockey countries have emerged, and these players have proved to the world with continuous efforts and good performance. Own, and Wu Qiguang's story also inspired the global Chinese, in the future there will be more Chinese ice hockey faces to the NHL, to the world, playing a world of their own. "I broke this ice hockey history," when Wu Qiguang recalled the instant when he set foot on the NHL court. "Maybe I was the first Chinese to play in the NHL, but I believe this can affect more China." Children walk into this sport."

He left with peace, but what Wu Qiguang left is an eternal spirit and inheritance.