The Latinx Community Steps onto the Ice

Long Beach State club hockey team in pre game huddle. Photo courtesy by Cora Hessom.

When it comes to representation of Latinx athletes, hockey is among the sports that have a lack of Latinx players. This is in part due to the sport being dominated by Canadian and European players.

However, in recent years, hockey has been growing in popularity in states like California and Arizona partly because of Hispanic players in the National Hockey League like Auston Matthews.

Matthews is of Mexican descent and has already inspired players like brothers Lucas and Caden Abarquez. Lucas and Caden Abarquez are of Hispanic descent and play for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings under 14 and under 18 teams, which play at the “AAA” level.

When he steps onto the ice, Lucas Abarquez notices the lack of representation.

“It feels different and I am looking around, and most of the time I am the only Hispanic player on my team and also the other team too,” Lucas Abarquez said.

Despite often being the only Hispanic player, Caden Abarquez views it positively.

“I think I am contributing to the overall wide variety of players from very different backgrounds and cultures,” Caden Abarquez said. “Hockey, in my experience, has been an inclusive sport that is open to all races.”

The Abarquez brothers got into hockey because of their uncle, who played semi-professionally. They are also inspired by NHL players who play the same positions they do.

As a forward, Lucas Abarquez likes Jack Eichel, Leon Draisaitl and Auston Matthews because of how they pass and shoot the puck. Meanwhile, Caden Abarquez’s favorite players are defensemen Roman Josi, Cale Makar and Adam Fox, who are known for their offensive skills on defense and making heavy body checks.

Growing up in Bakersfield, there was only one ice rink, so Caden Abarquez started his hockey journey with roller hockey instead of ice

“I started out in roller hockey in my small hometown. I quickly jumped into ice hockey locally, and once COVID hit, I came down to LA to play for M15 and the Jr. Kings and have been here ever since,” Caden Abarquez said.

Caden Abarquez brining to puck into the offensive zone for the LA Jr Kings U18 team. Photo Courtesy of Kim Abarquez.

Long Beach State has been seeing more Latinos in hockey as well.

Long Beach State Hockey Club forwards Ali Ruelas and Alfredo Menjivar are of Hispanic descent.

“It means a lot actually. My family comes from El Salvador and Mexico, it's a very unusual thing in my family and the Latin world,” Menjivar said. “I take a lot of pride being the first in my family to do so.”

Ruelas, a senior, touched on how he got into the game of hockey and how proud his family is of him for being a part of the growing number of Latinos playing the sport.

“It's pretty cool, especially growing up supporting and watching the LA Kings. It's such a Canadian and American dominated sport,” Ruelas said. “So it's really cool to have the representation at the local level, especially having my father, who is very Mexican and is so proud of me.”

These strides in Latino representation at the local level couldn't have come about without representation at the professional level.

One of the first players of Latinx descent was Bill Guerin, a Hockey Hall of Famer. Guerin played his first season in the 1990s and is the first-ever Latino NHL player to win the Stanley Cup.

There are also many professional leagues throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Puerto Rico.

Mexico is one of the leading countries to grow the game on a local level, as there is an official league known as the Liga Mexicana Elite de Hockey. All four teams in the Liga Mexicana Elite de Hockey play in the same rink at Centro Santa Fe, Mexico City.

Latin America is not limited to its own leagues; they have international teams as well. The Mexico national team is one of the oldest international teams, founded in 1985. The newest international team is from Puerto Rico, which started playing in 2022.

Along with Mexico being the oldest of the Latin countries to have an IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) membership, it is also the only Latin American team to be ranked globally, with the men's team ranking 42nd and the women's team ranking 25th in the world.

As hockey grows in popularity among the Latinx community, representation on the ice grows.