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

Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey
Jews & Hockey

