John Paris, Jr.: The Chocolate Rocket
John Paris Jr. didn't fully realize the magnitude of what he had accomplished until it was done.
It didn't feel like history in the making as the game clock at the Omni hit all zeroes and the Atlanta Knights defeated the Fort Wayne Komets 3-1 in Game 6 of the final to win the International Hockey League's Turner Cup championship in 1994. Paris entered the history books at that moment as the first black coach to win a hockey championship at any professional level. There hasn't been one since.
"At the time, you never realize the importance that it can have because you're in the moment," Paris said. "I wasn't there to be the first black [coach] in pro hockey, I was there because I was offered a position. Later on, I realized I opened a door."
It's a door that only a few have walked through since. Dirk Graham, who became the NHL's first black captain with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1989, became the League's first and still only black coach when he guided the Blackhawks for 52 games in 1998-99.
Leo Thomas, the uncle of Los Angeles Kings prospect Akil Thomas, became the first black coach in the Southern Professional Hockey League when he was hired by Macon in May 2018. He was fired in November 2019.
Graeme Townshend, the NHL's first player born in Jamaica, coached Macon's Central Hockey League team in 1999-2000. Ironically, he succeeded Paris, who coached the team from 1996-97 to 1998-99.
"I don't think people understand that what John did in Atlanta, how important it was," said Dave Starman, a hockey analyst for NHL Network and CBS Sports Network who coached under Paris at minor league stops in Atlanta and Macon. "What he overcame, physically plus being a person of color to come through in this sport, I do think he sometimes gets forgotten about and he shouldn't. He's one of the more unique human beings I've ever been associated with."
Paris believes that more coaches of color are on the way in the near future thanks, in part, to initiatives such as the NHL Declaration of Principles, which seeks to provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment in hockey regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.
Learn More: Color of Hockey: Paris first Black coach to win pro hockey title