Color of Hockey: Kirwan, Jean savor Stanley Cup win with Lightning

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past eight years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the game. Today, he profiles Tampa Bay Lightning video coach Nigel Kirwan and goalie coach Frantz Jean, the first two Black coaches to be part of a Stanley Cup-winning team.

When some Tampa Bay Lightning players wondered about what it's like to compete in the Stanley Cup Final this year, they turned to their video coach for perspective.
Nigel Kirwan, who was on the coaching staff of the Lightning's 2004 championship team and is believed to be the first Black coach on a Stanley Cup-winning team, offered a simple piece of advice: "Enjoy the ride."
"I got a couple of questions about '04 and what it was like, and I told them to enjoy the ride and soak it all in because you never know if it will happen again," Kirwan said. "There are lots of examples of players who have done incredible things in the League and have not been able to hoist Lord Stanley."
Kirwan hoisted it for the second time on Sept. 28 after the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in a six-game Stanley Cup Final that was played inside a secure bubble in Edmonton due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Lightning goalie coach Frantz Jean hoisted the Cup for the first time, an experience he called humbling.
"I always expected to feel tremendous excitement," he said. "But when we won and I had the chance to lift the Cup, I felt very, very humble looking at the names on it, being able to lift the trophy I've seen so many great, great players, great coaches lift before me."
Jean said he's honored to join Kirwan as one of the few coaches of color to help guide a team to the Stanley Cup, though he adds that, "I never thought of myself as a trailblazer in that sense.
"It's a tremendous honor if I'm one of the first few to do it, especially a French-Canadian. A Black French-Canadian coach is very rare, especially if you say goalie coach on top of that," said Jean, who joined Tampa Bay's coaching staff in 2010. "But for me, it wasn't an objective being one of the first ones. I don't see myself as a 'Black coach.' I see myself as a coach, though I know I'm Black and coaching in a predominately white league."

Kirwan said he hopes that his and Jean's accomplishments will inspire others to get involved in hockey, whether it's as players, coaches or management.
"I think it's most important for kids," he said, "If kids think it's not possible or achievable, [winning the Cup] gives them an opportunity to say, 'You know, I can do it, this guy has done it.' Maybe it carves a path for others who don't think it's possible to be inspired and try to accomplish similar kinds of goals."
Kirwan and Jean were among three Black coaches in the NHL last season. The other was former NHL forward Mike Grier for the New Jersey Devils.
There have been at least nine Black assistant coaches in the NHL, including former goalies Grant Fuhr and Fred Brathwaite, former defenseman Paul Jerrard and former forwards Graeme Townshend and Dirk Graham.
A Black coach hasn't led an NHL team since Graham became the first and guided the Chicago Blackhawks for 52 games in 1998-99. The NHL Coaches' Association has embarked on efforts to increase diversity and inclusion behind the bench.
For Kirwan and Jean, winning the Stanley Cup brought back memories of how their coaching careers began.
Kirwan is one of few remaining Lightning employees from the team's inaugural season in 1992-93. He was working in the sales department when then-coach Terry Crisp asked him in 1996 to become the team's video coach.
"I was working in the front office one day, then I was in the locker room the next and I had no idea what I was doing," Kirwan said. "I knew hockey, but I knew nothing about video, what I needed to do, what the job entailed.

The Winnipeg native immediately proceeded to violate an NHL rule while working his first game in November 1996.
"At that time, at the end of the game you had to provide the other team with a video
, who became the NHL's third Black player when he joined the Washington Capitals in 1974-75.

Riley was coach and general manager of Moncton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1996 when he hired Jean, then a 26-year-old former Canadian collegiate goalie, to replace
Roland Melanson
, who joined the Montreal Canadiens as goalie coach that season.
"Rollie recommended me, and Bill said, 'You know what, let's give this guy a shot,'" Jean said.
Jean spent 12 seasons at Moncton. During his tenure, the team won QMJHL championships in 2005-06 and 2009-10 and allowed the fewest goals in the league four times.
"My young goaltenders made great strides under him," said Riley, who played 139 games and scored 61 points (31 goals, 30 assists) for the Capitals and Winnipeg Jets. "What he's doing today does not surprise me."

Riley said he watched Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at his home in Nova Scotia, beaming with pride over what his former goalie coach had achieved. He said he's enjoyed watching Jean's career progress and seeing Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won the 2019 Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender, have success under his tutelage.
"I had tears in my eyes," he said, "and I couldn't turn off the TV until I saw Frantz hoist the Cup."