Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon profiles Flint hockey pioneer Rico Phillips this morning, discussing Phillips’ attempts to respond to this past summer’s racially-charged events with positive change. Dixon’s article is a very “long read,” but it’s worth your time:
Rico Phillips has always been the type of person to take things a step further than most. After sitting on a firetruck at age seven, Phillips knew what he wanted to do with his life. The kid who used to park himself in an empty lot across from Flint Fire Station No. 1 in the hopes of witnessing the sirens sing eventually retired after 27 years on the job last fall. Another example: As a high school trainer, Phillips opted to work with the hockey team for no other reason than the fact he knew their banged-up bodies would give him tons of practice. Just months before hanging up his yellow helmet, Phillips was on stage at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, accepting the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award for his role in founding the Flint Inner City Youth Hockey Program.
It’s maybe no surprise, then, that this past spring, the events of a May day in Minnesota sent him surging forward again. “George Floyd was murdered unnecessarily and I’m sitting in my house trying to figure out [what I can do],” Phillips says. As he worked through his thoughts and feelings, Phillips had the option, thanks to the connections he’s made, to call the man who broke the NHL’s colour barrier. He knew he wanted to take action, but couldn’t figure out how to channel his efforts. So he put it to O’Ree. “I said, ‘Willie, I’m having a hard time. I want to say something, but I just don’t know what to say and where to say it,’” Phillips recalls. “He told me, ‘Rico, your voice is in ice hockey and people are listening to you, so let your voice be heard.’”
