Larry Kwong

Lawrence Kwong (born Eng Kai Geong; ; June 17, 1923 – March 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who was the first player of Chinese descent in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing one shift late in the third period of a 1948 game. He was the NHL's first player who was neither white nor Indigenous North American, debuting ten years before Willie O'Ree. Although denied much playing time in the NHL, Kwong was a top player in senior hockey leagues outside the NHL throughout his entire career and battled the likes of Jean Béliveau for the scoring race in Quebec.

Kwong came from a Cantonese-speaking family, and was also the first NHL player from Vernon, British Columbia, and the Okanagan region. Kwong's nicknames included the "China Clipper" and "King Kwong". His father had immigrated from China in 1884 for the gold rush in Cherry Creek, BC. His father later started farming and then went into the grocery business in Vernon, British Columbia, calling his store Kwong Hing Lung. Larry's Chinese surname was Eng, but decided to take the name of his father's store as the last name in his English name.

Just two weeks after his birth, the government of the Dominion of Canada enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 which completely prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering Canada. Kwong faced numerous acts of racial discrimination during his youthful years in Vernon, as he recalled being denied service at a barbershop because of his ethnic background. He powered the Vernon Hydrophones to the midget hockey championship of BC in 1939 and then to the provincial juvenile title in 1941. As an 18-year-old, Kwong jumped the junior ranks to play senior hockey after a try-out for the elite semi-professional Trail Smoke Eaters, who had won the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships. In Trail, players who made the roster got good-paying jobs at a local smelter, but Kwong was denied a job because of his Chinese heritage. Instead, he was sent to a nearby hotel to work as a bellhop.

In early 1944, Kwong was drafted into the Canadian Army. Instead of being deployed overseas, he was selected to join "Sugar" Jim Henry and Mac Colville on the Red Deer Wheelers of the Central Alberta Garrison Hockey League. The Wheelers defeated the Calgary Combines (starring two-time NHL scoring champion Sweeney Schriner) in the playoff semi-final, before falling to Calgary Currie Army (whose roster included Hart Trophy winners Max Bentley and Tommy Anderson) in the final series. In a game with the Wetaskiwin Army Colonels in 1945, Kwong scored 7 goals, including 6 in the third period alone, in a 9-3 victory over the Penhold Air Force team.

After World War II, Kwong returned to Trail and won the provincial senior hockey championship with the Smoke Eaters in 1946. In that BC Final series against the New Westminster Royals, Kwong led the Smokies in scoring (tied with Mike Buckna) and scored the Savage Cup-winning goal.

Later in 1946, Lester Patrick and Frank Boucher scouted Kwong and were impressed, signing him for the New York Rovers, a farm team of the New York Rangers. Kwong scored a goal in his debut for the Rovers against the Boston Olympics in Boston on October 27, 1946. At Madison Square Garden on November 17, 1946, Shavey Lee presented Kwong with the Key to New York's Chinatown. Kwong went on to lead the New York Rovers in scoring in 1947–1948 with 86 points in 65 games.

NHL debut

On March 13, 1948, Kwong became the first player of Asian descent to play in the NHL. Kwong was not the first non-white player, having been preceded by several Indigenous athletes, including Paul Jacobs, Taffy Abel and Henry Maracle.

While several other Rover forwards were called to play subsequent games, Kwong was not, despite being the Rovers' top scorer and MVP. Kwong became convinced that he would not get an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level with the Rangers, and he left the Rangers organization at the end of the season. In the off-season, Kwong accepted a more lucrative offer to play for the Valleyfield Braves of the Quebec Senior Hockey League. He expected only to stay for a year, but remained in Europe for 15 years. "I went there to coach ice hockey and then after six years of coaching, I decided to start teaching tennis as a tennis pro." With this coaching assignment, he became the first person of Chinese descent to coach a professional hockey team. He later coached HC Lugano, HC Lausanne, EHC Aarau and the Neuchâtel Young Sprinters. In 1960, Kwong led a team of expatriates, the Swiss Canadians, to victories over the Soviet and Czechoslovak national squads at the Geneva International Tournament. According to former Swiss Ice Hockey Federation CEO Patrick Bloch, Kwong was "a great ambassador and builder of hockey."

Personal life Kwong was married to Audrey Craven (1929–1979) in Nottingham in 1964. The couple had one daughter, Kristina Heintz. In 1972 Kwong returned to Canada with his family to run Food-Vale Supermarket with his brother Jack. In 1989 Kwong married Janine Boyer. He was widowed for a second time in 1999. Retired from the grocery business, he lived in Calgary, Alberta. Kwong died on March 15, 2018, in Calgary at the age of 94.

Honours & achievements Kwong has been honoured on numerous occasions. Below is a list of select honours:

On-ice achievements 1939: British Columbia Midget Hockey Championship (Cromie Cup)

1941: British Columbia Juvenile Hockey Championship (Monarch Life Cup)

1946: British Columbia Senior Hockey Championship; scored the Savage Cup-winning goal

1947-48: Leading scorer on the New York Rovers (86 points in 65 games), the top minor league team for the New York Rangers

March 13, 1948: Breaking the NHL's colour barrier by playing for the New York Rangers as the first player of Asian descent in the league

1950-51: Byng of Vimy Trophy winner as MVP of the Quebec Senior Hockey League; QSHL First Team All-Star Centre; league leader in assists (51), second in points (85), third in goals (34)

2002: Calgary's Asian Heritage Month Award

2009: Heritage Award from the Society of North American Historians and Researchers (SONAHR)

2010: Okanagan Hockey Group's inaugural Pioneer Award

November 23, 2011: Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Member in the Athlete category

September 19, 2013: Honoured Member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame

July 23, 2016: Honoured Member of the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame

December 7, 2022: Honoured with Paul Jacobs, Henry Maracle, Fred Sasakamoose and Willie O'Ree for breaking racial barriers in the NHL with a Canadian National Historic Event designation and commemorative plaque in Toronto

January 28, 2025: Seattle Kraken's Hero of the Deep Award

July 12, 2025: Honoured Member of the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame as a Player/Pioneer

Kwong's game-worn 1942–43 Nanaimo Clippers sweater hangs in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a part of its exhibit The Changing Face of Hockey – Diversity in Our Game.

Honorary appearances 2008: Saluted by the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League at the Saddledome

2014: The Shift: The Story of the China Clipper, a documentary by Chester Sit, Wes Miron and Tracy Nagai, had its theatrical premiere in Vernon, BC.

2015: King Kwong: Larry Kwong, the China Clipper who Broke the NHL Colour Barrier, a biography by Paula Johanson, was published.

2024: The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey, a biography written by Chad Soon and George Chiang and illustrated by Amy Qi, was released by Orca Book Publishers.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1940–41 Vernon Hydrophones BCAHA — — — — — — — — — — 1941–42 Trail Smoke Eaters ABCHL 29 9 13 22 10 3 0 0 0 0 1942–43 Nanaimo Clippers VISHL 11 6 6 12 0 3 0 1 1 2 1943-44 Vancouver St. Regis PCSHA 17 10 6 16 0 — — — — — 1943–44 Red Deer Army Wheelers ASHL 2 0 0 0 0 5 1 2 3 0 1945–46 Trail Smoke Eaters WKHL 19 12 8 20 12 10 9 3 12 10 1945–46 Trail Smoke Eaters Al-Cup — — — — — 5 2 1 3 0 1946–47 New York Rovers EAHL 47 19 18 37 15 9 7 3 10 0 1947–48 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1947–48 New York Rovers EAHL 17 13 16 29 5 — — — — — 1947–48 New York Rovers QSHL 48 20 37 57 23 4 1 0 1 0 1948–49 Valleyfield Braves QSHL 63 38 47 85 8 3 1 0 1 7 1949–50 Valleyfield Braves QSHL 60 24 35 59 16 5 2 1 3 2 1950–51 Valleyfield Braves QSHL 60 34 51 85 35 28 7 21 28 6 1951–52 Valleyfield Braves QSHL 60 38 28 66 16 6 1 5 6 0 1952–53 Valleyfield Braves QSHL 56 10 22 32 6 3 0 2 2 0 1953–54 Valleyfield Braves QHL 68 24 25 49 17 7 3 3 6 2 1954–55 Valleyfield Braves QHL 50 24 30 54 8 — — — — — 1955–56 Trois-Rivieres Lions QHL 29 3 6 9 10 — — — — — 1955–56 Troy Bruins IHL 21 9 9 18 2 5 1 2 3 2 1956–57 Troy Bruins IHL 9 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 1956–57 Cornwall Chevies OHA Sr 33 14 15 29 22 6 5 1 6 0 1957–58 Nottingham Panthers BNL 31 39 15 54 6 24 16 9 25 4 1958-59 HC Ambrì-Piotta NLA 14 19 11 30 — — — — — — Totals 745 366 398 764 211 126 56 54 110 35 NHL totals 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —