By Canadian Press

Commemorative stamp pays tribute to all-black hockey league in the Maritimes

Jan 23, 2020 | 10:02 AM

CHERRY BROOK, N.S. — Canada Post plans to unveil a commemorative stamp today that pays tribute to an all-black hockey league that once thrived in the Maritimes.

The stamp tells the story of the Colored Hockey League, which saw teams competing for the Colored Hockey Championship between 1895 and the 1930s. The unveiling is scheduled to take place at the Black Cultural Centre in Cherry Brook, N.S.

The league, founded 22 years before the National Hockey League, was established in Halifax among black Baptists who were eager to get young men to attend Sunday church services.

The first team was the Dartmouth Jubilees but others soon formed in communities such as Halifax, New Glasgow, N.S., and Charlottetown, P.E.I., often sharing players with established baseball teams.

Teams weren’t allowed into local arenas until after the white leagues were finished with their seasons. That meant the league’s seasons typically lasted from late January to early March, when natural ice surfaces became poor.

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Still, the games were fast-paced and featured several innovations, including the invention of the slapshot — credited to Eddie Martin of the Halifax Eurekas in 1906.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2020.

The Canadian Press