John Paris Jr. knew what he was getting into when he was asked to coach minor hockey in Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, Que., in the 1960s. | SaltWire
Did you know?Paris was scouted by legend Scotty Bowman while playing with the Windsor Royals midget squad in the early 1960s. He tried out for the Montreal junior Canadiens with the likes like Serge Savard and Jacques Lemaire and later ended up with the Chicago Blackhawks farm team in Sorel.“John was an exceptional player,” Boyd said, noting he was a talented stickhandler and a great leader. “He wasn’t a big chap, but he made up for his size with his hockey ability.
“I’ve always said, I am Black by nature … and I am a coach or hockey player by choice,” Paris said. “Everything I have done in sports was by choice – nothing to do with skin tone.” Paris, always one to look at the positives, said there are more good people in society and in hockey, but the minority receives more attention.
“We were both convinced from the get-go that these are accolades and accomplishments very worthy of recognition and we could think of no better recognition that the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Smith said. “We were convinced that this is what we wanted to do.”
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