Carnegie could have been first black NHL player, letter shows

For $240, Berman obtained the August 1948 letter the New York Rangers sent Herb Carnegie inviting him to try out for the team, an overture that could have put him on track to become the NHL's first black player a decade before Willie O'Ree broke in with the Boston Bruins."You will please bring your own SKATES, and any other equipment that might prove helpful to you," reads the letter signed by Rangers manager Frank Boucher, a 1958 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. If I don't let some of this go now, when I die I don't know if my kids will take the interest in making sure they get [it] to somebody who cares."Berman cares enough that he hopes that donating the letter to the Hall will rekindle public interest in getting Carnegie, who died on March 9, 2012 at the age of 92, enshrined in the Toronto hockey museum.If admitted, he would join O'Ree, goalie Grant Fuhr and Canadian women's hockey star Angela James as its only black members."I want the fact that this letter exists to be used as a springboard to get this man into the Hall of Fame as a builder because, in my opinion, if you read what a builder is, this man defines the category," Berman said. The final offer would have required him to play the season at the Rangers' top minor league affiliate in New Haven, Conn., nearly two hours from Madison Square Garden.Bernice Carnegie said her father rejected the offers because he had a wife and growing family to support in Quebec and couldn't afford the pay cut.Hockey historians and sportswriters have debated since whether Carnegie erred by declining a Rangers offer that could have eventually led to an NHL roster spot or whether race ultimately played a role in him never making it.In his autobiography, "Jean Beliveau: My Life in Hockey," the late Canadiens center wrote that "It's my belief that Herbie was excluded from the NHL because of his colour."Cecil Harris, a black author who wrote "Breaking the Ice, The Black Experience in Professional Hockey," has said that he wished Carnegie had accepted the Rangers final offer because it mirrored the approach the Brooklyn Dodgers took that led to Jackie Robinson becoming Major League Baseball's first black player in 1947.Carnegie retired in 1954 and achieved as much success off the ice as he did on it.He was a financial advisor; started the Future Aces Hockey School, one of the first hockey academies in Canada; became a champion senior golfer; and developed the Future Aces Creed, a 12-point philosophy to help mold youngsters into responsible citizens.He is enshrined in 13 halls of fame and was invested in the Order of Canada, one of the nation's highest civilian honors.