Celebrating Black History Month and Dirk Graham, Chicago Blackhawks, First National Hockey League (NHL) Head Coach and Captain

Posted on February 21, 2021

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Levin of Satanov, z”l, wrote in Cheshbon ha-Nefesh (Accounting of the Soul) regarding diligence one should “[a]lways find something to do — for yourself or for a friend, and don’t allow a moment of your life to be wasted.”

Rabbi Levin explains that diligence requires a person to strive to perfect one self and thereby fulfilling one’s potential as a human being. I was fortunate enough to cover Dirk Graham for Stan Fischler and the Hockey News as a correspondent when Graham was the captain of the 1992-93 Chicago Blackhawks and Graham was referred to as the “guts of the club.” My son Ariel astutely taught me about Graham’s remarkable barrier breaking accomplishments in a predominately white National Hockey League (NHL).

Dirk Graham personified the middah (measure or character trait) of diligence which propelled him up the ranks in the Chicago Blackhawks organization to become the first NHL captain of African descent and later the first NHL head coach of African descent. Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz noted Dirk Graham played in playoff games with a broken knee cap and and center Jeff Shantz noted Graham’s intensity and the “will to win at all cost.” Graham himself said Blackhawks hockey was “commitment to the team, commitment to your teammates. Playing with heart, playing with desire. Showing up every night.”

Graham clearly fulfilled his potential as both a captain, head coach, and a role model — transcending the sport of hockey by leading the way and offering hope for others to follow that they too can advance, succeed, and break down barriers, that they too maybe can become the first at something if one cultivates the trait of diligence.

What is something you want to accomplish in your life? Maybe it is possible with hard work and “playing with heart, playing with desire” and “showing up every night” as Dirk Graham exemplified during his career.