Around the time of the Stanley Cup playoffs, you often hear some players on the roster referred to as "Black Aces." Who are the Black Aces on a roster, and where did that name come from?
WHAT IS A BLACK ACE?
The Black Aces are the extra players added to a roster for a team's playoff run after their own season is over in the minor-leagues or elsewhere. The Black Aces practice with the team and are expected to be ready to step into the lineup if any of the regular players in the lineup are unable to play.
The NHL's 23-man roster limit ends at the trade deadline, and there is no salary cap in the postseason, allowing teams to carry as many Black Aces as they wish. The Black Aces typically consist of most NHL-contracted players from the team's AHL affiliate after the AHL team is eliminated from the playoffs, and can also include players from juniors or college if their seasons are over.
When a team wins the Stanley Cup, their Black Aces are part of the on-ice celebrations afterward. This video shows the Penguins' Black Aces in 2009 watching the final seconds of Game 7, in full gear ready to go out onto the ice. There's a language warning for this video:
In 2016 and 2017 the Penguins' Black Aces weren't in full gear but still celebrated, as seen in these pictures from Jean-Sebastien Dea:
WHY ARE THEY CALLED BLACK ACES?
The term was coined in the 1940s by former Bruin Eddie Shore when he was the owner of the AHL's Springfield Indians. Shore used the term to refer to his extra players on the roster, players who were working their way back from injury or in the doghouse. The players would have to participate in practice drills like the rest of the roster, but they would also have to do maintenance around the arena. One of Shore's extra players, Don Cherry, wrote about the Black Aces in his book "Grapes: A Vintage View of Hockey."
"Anyone who crossed Shore became a 'Black Ace,' one of the many extras he kept on the squad - but wouldn't dress for punitive purposes," Cherry wrote. "The Black Aces had to work extra hard in practice and were always available to play should any of the regulars enrage Shore even more. In addition to scrimmaging with the team, the Black Aces were required to do odd jobs around the arena such as painting seats, selling programs, making popcorn, and blowing up hundreds of balloons before the ice shows."
The name Black Aces refers to the "dead man's hand" in poker, which includes the black aces and black eights, and is considered unlucky after Old West gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok was murdered while holding that hand in a game of poker 1876.
Since the Black Aces were mostly comprised of players who were injured or in Shore's doghouse, Shore considered them down on their luck, and compared them to the unlucky black aces in the poker hand.
Today's Black Aces aren't as unlucky, and definitely don't have to do odd jobs around the arena. They have an important job: To remain game-ready in case the opportunity presents itself to step into a Stanley Cup playoff game.
