The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press both report that a new movie about a team of Black hockey players in Detroit has its premiere at area theaters last Friday (5/31).  The movie is written, directed and produced by longtime Detroit radio host Gerald McBride, who has been on-the-air on WMXD-FM (Detroit) for 25 years. It's his feature film debut.

"The Rhythm" tells the faith-based story of Robert (Arthur Cartwright), who after getting out of prison, coaches a youth hockey team made up of kids in a Detroit neighborhood. It’s a faith-based story that’s fiction, but the film’s origins are rooted in personal experience,  McBride told the Detroit Free Press. More than a decade ago he attended a University of Michigan men’s hockey game with a client whose son was a participant. It was McBride’s first time attending a hockey game, and he was affected by the experience.

“It is completely sold out and I’m the only Black guy in the entire arena,” said McBride. He said he left the game curious about the history of Black players in the National Hockey League — and wound up inspired to make a movie.

“If anybody can walk away with something from the movie, making the right choices in life would be one of the main things,” he tells the newspaper. “And, of course, the other one is don’t be afraid. Just believe. A lot of times, we’re afraid to step out on our dreams and our ideas.

“But if we’re not afraid,” he added, “we can step out on faith and believe it can happen.”

View the trailer HERE.