Tuesday afternoon, Mike Grier, 47, made history when he was officially introduced as the San Jose Sharks’ new General Manager, making him the first Black GM in NHL history.
Grier, the fifth general manager in franchise history, has a long career in the sport as a player, scout, coach, and executive.
And it was a history-making career before today’s news.
A native of Detroit, Mike Grier went to play college hockey at Boston University. In his three seasons with the Terriers, he amassed 120 points (59 goals, 61 assists) in 114 games. In 1995, he helped lead the team to an NCAA Championship and won back-to-back Hockey East Championships. After that season, Grier was named to the All-Hockey East First Team, selected to the Division I AHCA All-American Team, won the Walter Brown Award as the best U.S.-born collegiate player in New England and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, awarded to the top collegiate hockey player.
He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the ninth round (219th overall) of the 1993 NHL Draft but his rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers.
Grier continued playing for the Terriers and was selected as the team’s captain for the 1995-96 season. But after he earned a spot on the Oilers, he decided to forgo his final season at BU.
Mike Grier made his NHL debut with the Oilers on October 4th, 1996, and made history at that moment by becoming the first African American-born and trained player in the U.S. to play in the NHL.
In his fourteen-year NHL career (1996-2011), Grier played for the Oilers, Washington, Toronto, Buffalo, and San Jose. He rose to become one of the league’s best defensive players, helping teams like the Sharks and Sabres improve defensively almost immediately. He also collected 383 points (162 points, 221 assists).
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