The Tiger Woods Of Hockey

Robin Williams praised Tiger Woods' black athletic ability and Buddhist concentration in his Live On Broadway dvd. He also 'explains'  why there are 'no' Spanish hockey players.

Darren Roanoke is the kind of hockey player Robins described. The star player of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the Tiger Woods of hockey, with some Spanish influence added.

Roanoke, No. 77 for the Leafs, is really Romany Malco, an American actor born in Brooklyn, New York to a Trinidadian father. He was also a rapper in the Group College Boyz. They are know for their hit Victim of the Ghetto. But Roanoke is a fictional character, created by Mike Myers for his hockey movie, The Love Guru.

The closest thing to the Darren Roanoke or Tiger Woods of hockey is Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla, the captain of the Calgary Flames.

Igilna is the first black captain of an NHL team in history.  He led the NHL in goals and points in 2001–02, and won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's Most Valuable Player as voted by the players. In 2003–04, Iginla led the league in goals for the second time as he captained the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals, leading the league in playoff scoring. Iginla scored 50 goals in a season for the second time in his career in 2007–08.

He is a five-time NHL All-Star. He is the Flames all-time leader in goals scored and games played. He has represented Canada internationally many times and helped lead Team Canada to its first gold medal in 50 years at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he was a member of two Memorial Cup winning teams as Canadian major-junior champions with the Kamloops Blazers, and was named the Western Hockey League's Player of the Year in 1996.

He was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, but was later traded to Calgary and has played his entire professional career with the Flames.
 
Outside of hockey, he is known for his polite and generous nature. He is an avid golfer, and a regular participant in the Calgary Flames Celebrity Charity Golf Classic.

He is also an ambassador with the NHL Diversity program, which supports youth hockey organizations that offer economically disadvantaged kids the opportunity to play.

The first 'Diversity' player to reach the NHL is Gerald Coleman, a goalie, age 23, is from Chicago, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and was traded to the Anaheim Ducks.

Coleman was the starting goalie for the London Knights team that won the 2005 Memorial Cup over Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic.

February is Hockey is for Everyone Month as the NHL recognizes the expanding diversity of its players and fans.

The list of Black hockey players is not a long one. The list includes a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr. Players now in the NHL include:
    ▪    Donald Brashear (Washington Capitals)
    ▪    Dustin Byfuglien (Chicago Blackhawks)
    ▪    Nigel Dawes (New York Rangers)
    ▪    Andre Deveaux (Toronto Maple Leafs)
    ▪    Robbie Earl, (Minnesota Wild)
    ▪    Mike Grier (San Jose Sharks)
    ▪    Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)
    ▪    Georges Laraque (Montreal Canadiens)
    ▪    Jamal Mayers (Toronto Maple Leafs)
    ▪    Greg Mauldin (Ottawa Senators)
    ▪    Kenndal McArdle (Florida Panthers)
    ▪    Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders)
    ▪    Wayne Simmonds Los Angeles Kings
    ▪    Anthony Stewart (Florida Panthers)
    ▪    Chris Stewart (Colorado Avalanche)
    ▪    Joel Ward (Nashville Predators)
    ▪    Shawn Belle (Montreal Canadiens)
    ▪    Francis Bouillon (Nashville Predators)
    ▪    Trevor Daley (Dallas Stars)
    ▪    Mark Fraser (New Jersey Devils)
    ▪    Derek Joslin (San Jose Sharks)
    ▪    Johnny Oduya (New Jersey Devils)
    ▪    Theo Peckham (Edmonton Oilers)
    ▪    Bryce Salvador (New Jersey Devils)
    ▪    Chris Beckford-Tseu (St. Louis Blues)
    ▪    Kevin Weekes (New Jersey Devils)

The list of hockey players of Asian descent in the NHL is even shorter.

Paul Kariya (St. Louis Blues)
Manny Malhotra (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Jason Krog (Vancouver Canucks)
Richard Park (New York Islanders)
Raymond Sawada (Dallas Stars)
Devin Setoguchi (San Jose Sharks)
The Spanish players in the NHL are:
Scott Gomez (New York Rangers)
Bill Guerin (New York Islanders)
Raffi Torres (Columbus Bluejackets)

February is Hockey is for Everyone Month as the NHL recognizes the expanding diversity of its players and fans.