46 | JANUARY 28 • 2021

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

Jews & Hockey

I

really enjoyed JN sportswriter Steve
Stein’s recent article about Eric Israel,
a local Jewish kid playing for the
Rapid City (S.D.) Rush in the East Coast
Hockey League. Israel is a tough and
resilient defenseman and, obviously, loves
the game.
Reading about Israel, I
wondered about the rela-
tionship between Detroit’s
Jewish community and
hockey. The William
Davidson Digital Archive
of Jewish Detroit History
provided the answer. To
quote Frank Beckman’s
sports column in the Nov. 14, 1947, issue
of the Jewish Chronicle: “Yes, there are Jews
in hockey.” (Note: this Frank Beckman
reported on sports much earlier than WJR
radio’s sports legend Frank Beckmann.)
Detroit Jews have a long relationship
with the sport. Hockey is mentioned on
3,268 pages in the Davidson Archive; the
Detroit Red Wings on 398 pages.
The earliest mention of hockey is in
“The Jewish Girl at College,” an article in
the April 26, 1918, issue of the Chronicle.
It discusses the increasing participation of
Jewish women in a myriad of college activ-

ities, from student leadership to sports,
including “hockey” (although, I suspect
this is a reference to field hockey).
There are many references to our
hometown Detroit Red Wings. It was
announced in the June 14, 1957, JN that
the legendary Gordie Howe would speak
at Beth Aaron Synagogue. There was
a nice story about Jewish Detroiter Al
Nagler in the April 2, 1948, Chronicle.
After a 10-year hiatus, the Red Wings
were going back on the radio and Nagler
would call the play-by-play. He was a
forerunner of current announcer for tele-
vised Red Wings games, Jewish Sports
Hall of Famer Ken Daniels.
Over the years, the JN published
numerous announcements for trips to
Red Wings games organized by Jewish
communal groups. If you attended a
game on one of these excursions over the
past two decades, you also heard a won-
derful voice sing the National Anthem,
Jewish Detroiter Karen Newman.
Two other Red Wings-related stories
were interesting. “Field of Dreams” in
the Oct. 1, 1993, issue of the JN is about
police officer Rich Markowitz, dentist
Allen Tuchklaper and investment coun-
selor Leonard Weiss attending a fantasy

camp with veteran Red Wings. A thrill,
no doubt. In the Sept. 11, 1998, issue,
there is “The Cats with the Hats” about
Mark Kellman and his uncle David
Kellman, the creators of the foam “Wing
Nut!” hats. What a great invention!
Then, there are stories about the rare
Jewish hockey players in the National
Hockey League (NHL), who exemplify the
pinnacle of success. A report in the July
17, 1987, issue of the JN is about Steven
Richmond, only Jewish player in the NHL
at that time. “Wandering Star” in the Feb.
19, 2006, issue is about then-Red Wing
Mathieu Schneider, who over a long career
logged 1,289 games in the NHL.
Perhaps the best story about a hockey
player is “Packing a Punch” in the Oct.
23, 1987, issue of the JN. It is about our
own Jewish NHLer, left-winger Mike
Hartman, a product of West Bloomfield
High School, who played nearly 400
games for various teams in 13 seasons
in the NHL. Hartman is also another
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Famer.
So, Beckman was right. Jews and hock-
ey go together. Go Wings!

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.
org.

Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair

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