 As an 18-year-old, Kwong jumped the junior ranks to play senior hockey after a try-out for the elite semi-professional Trail Smoke Eaters, who had won the 1939 World Ice Hockey Championships.In Trail, players who make the roster get good-paying jobs at a local smelter, but Kwong was denied a job working with his teammates at the smelter because of his Chinese heritage.Instead, he was sent to a nearby hotel to work as a bellhop, carrying bags for patrons.