Black History Month: Jules-Edy Laraque
Jules-Edy Laraque believes hockey has become more inclusive since his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League days, but there is always room for improvement. Especially when news breaks about racist remarks during community hockey games.
“The issue is that when you hear of an isolated incident it brings everything back to kind of like when you go back in time. When I was told and other players, I’m sure were told, hockey is basically a sport for white players, for white people,” said Laraque. “To that effect I find [it] also said that hockey is a sport for boys and not girls.”
Making hockey for everyone will come down to helping with the high costs of playing the game, as well as making the same rules and regulations apply for boys and girls.
“If you have a level playing field as far as participation early on in hockey, you might see more minority players play. Because it’s more affordable, it’s more accessible,” he said. “I mean basketball, soccer, baseball that’s a lot cheaper and you tend to see more minority players in those sports because of the fee associated to it. I think that’s probably the best way if you want to really make it like more open for everybody.”
Laraque is a beloved Titan alumnus who recently spoke with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan about his major junior days as part of the league’s coverage during Black History Month. “As far as it goes for, let’s say minority players, I guess growing up you didn’t have that many players to look up to,” he remembers. “I remember when I was a kid, I’d say oh I’m Theo Fleury and…my friends were like, you can’t. Well, why not? He’s short, like I’m short. But…you could be like Claude Vilgrain or Grant Fuhr.”
Personally, he wishes he had the opportunities when he was younger Black players have now when it comes to NHL role models and influencers they can look up to, like PK Subban. And while it is getting better, Laraque said when incidents of racism occur during games it will “reset” progressive strides which have been made and ruins it for everyone involved.
“There’s hitting clinics, you know, when you get to a certain age. There (are) different things that kids have to go through, so why not that be a good discussion to have Black hockey players talk to kids when they get to a certain level. And explain the effects of words and those things and maybe have a video play for them.”
Laraque experienced racism in multiple facets of life whether it was from ignorant slurs and comments to people who avoided him because of the colour of his skin. Despite the positive memories from his playing days and love and passion for the game, negative moments and experiences are woven throughout Laraque’s overall hockey career.
“Growing-up playing hockey it was constant. That was just part of the game, to me. There was nothing done about any type of comments, racist comments,” he said. “The only thing I would (have) been told by friends or teammates or coaches is don’t worry about it. Just go score some goals. And you kind of build up a shell, kind of like to make those comments bounce off you. So, when I got to the Q my first year, I remember players did call me the N-word on the ice.”
When it happened in his second year, Laraque said the player who made the racist remark apologized for what he said. However, there were rinks around the league where the slurs were “really bad” from spectators. “That part that was tougher for me it was when it was coming from the stands.”
Laraque remembers a game where spectators called him racial slurs during a game in Victoriaville. “There was a section of the crowd that…every time I skated by, I would hear the N-word and they would just laugh and scream at me, racial slurs and stuff like that,” he said. “To the point that the parents were doing it but then the kids started doing it.”
The Tigres goalie – who heard what was going on near his net throughout the game– happened to be former President Cup-winning Titan teammate, and long-time friend Philippe Ozga. Upset by the actions of these individuals, Ozga reported what was going on to his coach and the referee. As a result, the hecklers were escorted out of the rink by security. Laraque said he was taken back by what unfolded. Reflecting on the past, Laraque believes what was yelled at him during those games were a tactic to either get him off his game or because they thought it was amusing. He said the way he saw it at the time was fans thought it was part of the game, but they were not “true racists” like he had encountered before.
“They didn’t understand the ignorance of using racial slur and racial comment, that they think it’s the right thing to do because that’s just the way it is.”
Meanwhile, Laraque spent a season and a half with the Titan. Drafted 82nd overall in the sixth round of the 1997 QMJHL Entry Draft by Rouyn-Noranda, he made his rookie debut during the 1997-98 season, during which time he scored eight goals and nine assists in 45 games. By the start of the 1998-99 season, he was traded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, and had to ask himself “where is Bathurst?”
“Which was sad in a sense because I did have a good billet in Rouyn-Noranda, he was a police officer and a nurse, which I looked up a lot to them and they have two young children with them,” he recalled. “So, to go to Bathurst and to come to Bathurst on the train, looking outside seeing nothing and then hearing the next stop is Bathurst I was kind of like… where am I going?”
The hockey product from Sept-Îles, Que., was set to compete for the Titan in their debut 1998-99 season. Laraque recalls a “packed” rink every game with fans from Bathurst and surrounding communities in the stands. The sounds of “Edy, Edy, Edy” were chanted throughout the rink. The atmosphere was electric.
“It was quite something. This was probably where I made my true name as a player in the Q,” he said. “Where I played four years and the physical aspect of my game and hitting. And, not even fighting, because my brother did the fighting, I didn’t. And to see how the crowd was getting going with that and if I’d get a cheap shot on me, I’d be down, and the crowd would start the chant and it would get all the crowd going.”
The 1999 Titan – which included future NHL players such as François Beauchemin and Roberto Luongo – went on to win the President Cup Championship on home ice and punch their ticket to the Memorial Cup playoffs.
“That was probably my best memory overall of my Q career. Because that was my second year going to a new place, getting the crowd, and having people camp outside in the playoffs to get tickets just to go to the game. Sold-out arena every game, every night,” he remembers. “You go anywhere into town, people recognized you. I mean, honestly being there I realized there was not many Black people around, so I got recognized pretty, easily in Bathurst. Which was kind of funny in a sense. But the people were great and great area.”
The following season Laraque was named an assistant captain for Acadie-Bathurst and compete alongside long-time friend and three-time Olympic gold medalist Charline Labonté. Midway through the season he was traded to the Mooseheads and made his second Memorial Cup appearance that spring with Halifax. In his final year playing major junior during the 2000-01 season, Laraque was named Captain, Fan Favourite, and team MVP.
Fast-forward 22 years and the two-time Fan Favourite is now a constable with the Halifax Regional Police and lives in Nova Scotia’s capital with his wife and their three children. “I love it and I’m glad I’m here.”