For over 40 years, legendary coach Neal Henderson has touched the lives of young people in the Washington, DC area through his youth team, the Fort Dupont Hockey Cannons. Founded to provide inner-city kids the opportunity to play organized hockey, the Cannons are the longest running minority-led hockey program in the country. Kwame talks to Coach about how the program got started and the documentary detailing his life and the kids of the Cannons. 

It's a new season of Soul on Ice: The Podcast.... get ready, Season 4 is upon us! Its been a minute, but the boys are back at it as Kwame, Akil, Elijah and Brother B chop it up, talking video games, big goals, new jobs and Connor McDavid... is McDavid the BEST player ever? According to Elijah, there's a difference between BEST & GREATEST. Akil and Elijah are so impressed with McDavid's skill and psyched that McDavid seems to finally be embracing his role as a SUPERSTAR. Kwame puts the guys on notice, how so? Well, let's just say he's VERY proud of what his 4-year-old son is doing on the ice, highlight reel goals already... Kwame is one proud dad.  Season 4 is running, so enjoy. 

NHL executive Kim Davis joins Kwame to talk about the impact she's had on the League since joining in 2017. She shares her goals for growing the game and how Hockey Is For Everyone has become such a powerful movement and initiative. She also talks about her journey to the NHL and why her experience and unique perspective was coveted and welcomed by the NHL community.  Kwame goes one v one with the highest ranking black woman in NHL history, and it's a great conversation. 

Saroya Tinker joins to talk about about the Toronto 6ix and some other exciting projects she's working on. Saroya is one of the strongest voices in Women's hockey and she is not afraid to speak her mind, learn about the force that she is in the world of hockey. But first, it's Disability Pride Month and one of the show's favorite people, Chanel Keenan, joins this week to speak about her love for the game, what it means to represent the disabled community in hockey and her gig with the Seattle Kraken. 

JT Brown hangs out with the boys again to talk about his big decision to hang up the skates and being hired by the Seattle Kraken as a TV analyst.

But first, Kwame goes one on one with Brian Berger, the SVP of A&R at Beatclub. Brian talks about bringing a fresh sound to the NHL with some of today's hottest young producers. 

Founded by Timbaland, Beatclub is the premier global marketplace that connects the music creator community with record labels, music publishers, film & tv, brands, content creators and independent artists. The National Hockey League partnered with Timbaland's Beatclub and will feature Beatclub and Timbaland's vast catalog of exclusive music, beats and songs throughout the duration of the 2020-21 season.  (https://beatclub.com) 

 

Time to get the inside scoop with two of Elijah's former teammates, Riley Damiani and Adam Mascherin, stop by to talk about playing in Kitchener with Elijah, playing in the AHL for Dallas and we finally find out how Elijah lost his tooth. But first, Kwame talks about his first time on synthetic ice at the Hockey Shot office (hockeyshot.com), Akil gets to rub in his NHL '21 win over Kwame and Elijah talks about running into wisdom tooth issues. 

Damion Thomas from the National Museum Of African American History is  and Culture is Kwame's guest to talk about the origin of Juneteenth, the now celebrated American holiday and how it relates to the history of black athletes in hockey. There is also a new exhibit at the museum dedicated to hockey and Damion fills us in how the project began and how it came out. 

Taya Currie, the first female o be drafted by an OHL team, joins Kwame and Akil to talk about small town living, the challenges of playing with the boys and the very difficult career decision that she will have to make in the future. Taya also talks about some of the players she's looked up to in the past and reveals some of the people that reached out to her after she was drafted. 

Stickhandling specialist Pavel Barber (Kwame found out that isn't his real name) joins to talk about his love for the game and how he is using his stick handling skills to help out the next generation of hockey players. He talks about sharing his skills with current players in the NHL and gives some great advice for parents, we think Akil has found his hockey soulmate. But first, Akil gives us an update on his surgery, Elijah breaks down the OHL draft and Kwame is just Kwame. If you are looking for a great book to read, Pavel suggests The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle 

This week, Hip Hop artist BIA joins the podcast (19:00). Hailing from Boston, BIA broke into the music business bringing her Cover Girl swag and catchy lyrics to the game.  But speaking of game, she also found a way to catch the attention of the NHL with her song Skate which has been remixed for the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  BIA talks about her love of hockey, the idea for Skate and being the bridge between Hip Hop and Hockey.

 

But first, Akil returns to talk about the end of his first professional season with the Ontario Reign, his shoulder injury and staying in LA to avoid Elijah.