Bill Guerin’s youth hockey jacket was littered with patches highlighting his early successes. The Worcester, Massachusetts native received a number of hat trick celebrations and playmaking patches from USA Hockey in his youth to donate at the local rinks and tournaments.
But then Guerin’s dad, Bill, had an extra patch sewn on. A Nicaraguan patch to represent Guerin’s Latin heritage through his mom, Ligia, who was born and raised in Nicaragua.
“It was throwing off the whole flavor,” Guerin said with a laugh of the patch addition. “The youth hockey jacket was a big deal. I had all of these hockey patches and then my dad insisted I have this big Nicaragua patch sewn on. No one else had that.”
Like his jacket, Guerin was one-of-a-kind in the National Hockey League.
When the Wild hired him as general manager on Aug. 21, 2019, he became the first general manager of Hispanic descent in the NHL. He was also the League’s first player of Hispanic descent when he made his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 20, 1992.
“I was surprised to learn that,” Guerin said of ticking off the ‘first in the league’ achievements. “I mean, the game has been around a lot longer than me. But I’m so proud of it, and I’ve embraced it more and more as I’ve gone along.”
Guerin’s physical appearance is similar to that of his father. A medium complexion with dark hair, he said he never felt out of place at the rink. His mom on the other hand, who had moved on her own from Nicaragua at the age of 18 to attend Ole Miss in 1962, has dark skin.
“She did say growing up a lot of times people thought she was my nanny,” Guerin recalled. “I mean they don’t even have a hockey rink in Nicaragua, let alone follow hockey, so there’s a cultural difference too.
“But my mom is the absolute best. She just went with it. Her and my dad were both so supportive of each of us three kids. She was the one who got me started in hockey, driving me to practices and things like that. She’s just the best.”
According to Guerin, Ligia sprinkled in her Nicaragua lineage from time to time through taking the family on visits back to her home country every other year or encouraging them to take Spanish in school (to which Guerin said he can still understand and speak a little but not incredibly well). There was also the home cooking that was added to the dinner table on occasion.
His favorite?
“Knockout tamales,” he said. “They’re basically like a regular tamale but with a Nicaraguan flare. It’s hard to describe but those are really good.”
But Guerin admits that it was his father who really put the emphasis on being proud of his Nicaraguan connection.
“It was really important to him. He loved my mom and he wanted to be sure we celebrated that part of our family,” said Guerin. “My dad would be watching the news at night and if something came up or was reported on Nicaragua, the entire house had to be quiet and we all had to go and watch it. He was just so proud of it.’
Since Guerin, a handful of players of Latin descent have played (or continue) to play in the NHL. As hockey continues to grow and be more inclusive to all races, genders, and cultures, Guerin can only hope that new families and kids find their way to the sport that he has loved so dearly; from a youth in a decked out hockey jacket, to a front office seat in the NHL.
SIDEBAR
Latin American NHLers
Bill Guerin (Irish and Nicaraguan)
Scott Gomez (Mexican and Colombian)
Auston Matthews (American and Mexican)
Al Montoya (Cuban)
Max Pacioretty (American and Mexican)
Raffi Torres (Mexican and Peruvian)
“Sports don’t see color,” said Guerin. “So the more we can acknowledge and celebrate these types of things, the more we bring new people into our sport. When you’re kids, you don’t think about color. You just went and played. And I think it’s important to make hockey available for everybody.”
“Maybe we’ll see more Nicaraguan patches on hockey jackets.”
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