Colorado holds the first pick in Sunday’s NHL draft, and if the Avalanche select Seth Jones, they’ll be bringing him home, in a way, to the place where he fell in love with hockey.
But Bryant McBride, an entrepreneur and investor who is black and was formerly the NHL’s vice president of business development, believes Jones, a defenseman, can impact the game in a big way. “He has as much or more potential to change the face of the game probably since Willie O’Ree,” McBride said.
Jones, who is the son of former NBA forward Popeye Jones, embraces the idea of being a role model for blacks and other minority races in the white-dominant sport, where last season there were 44 non-white players among the 720 on NHL rosters — just 6.1 percent. Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.
Baxter Holmes can be reached at baxter.holmes@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BaxterHolmes
