If I get in, it won't be because I broke the color barrier. It will be because of the work I'm doing now.".
Willie O'Ree is known as the "Jackie Robinson of hockey," and rightfully so. "People say to me, 'Willie, do you think you'll ever get into the Hall of Fame?' In 2018, O'Ree's prophecy came true: He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. Willie Eldon O'Ree, CM, ONB (born October 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League.
Willie Eldon O'Ree, CM ONB (born October 15, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, best known for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2018. He returned to the Bruins two years later and played 43 games in his final NHL season, scoring four goals. Willie O’Ree, the first black hockey player to play in a National Hockey League game when he debuted with the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on January 18, 1958. He was the youngest of 13 children of parents Rosebud and Harry. Once, a Blackhawks defender directed a slew of racial slurs at O'Ree and butt-ended him with a stick, forcing out his front teeth. To say that the O’Ree family was an ethnic minority in Fredericton at the time is an understatement — there were only two Black families in Fredericton while O’Ree was growing up. O'Ree made hockey history despite a blind right eye, which he received from an errant puck early in his career. He most recently worked as the director of youth development for the NHL, a job he said was the most rewarding job he'd ever had, according to a 2008 Sports Illustrated piece: "Breaking into the NHL was great, but the work that I'm doing now has to be the most rewarding job I've ever had," says O'Ree, 72. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. More From Biography.com• Florence Griffith Joyner• Jackie Joyner-Kersee• Wilma Rudolph• Althea Gibson. O'Ree played just two games in his first season in the NHL. Oktober 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick) ist ein … Willie O'Ree changed hockey forever on Jan. 18, 1958. Willie O'Ree, The Jackie Robinson Of Hockey, Discusses His Love For The Game - Duration: 10 ... Live: Protests in Houston, Texas over George Floyd's death | … The groundbreaking NHL player was the pioneer that cleared a path … The irony: Despite O'Ree's status as a pioneer, he didn't immediately realize he had broken the league's color barrier when he took the ice for the Bruins against the Canadiens in 1958.
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. He was blind in one eye – an extraordinary secret that only his sister knew. O’Ree’s grandparents came to Canada from the United States through the Underground Railroadto escape slavery (approximately 30,000 fugitives escaped to Canada between 1840 and 1860). All Rights Reserved. The winger fought back and forced the Blackhawk player to get 15 stitches. "Willie O'Ree," by Sarah Kwak (July 14, 2008), © 2020 ABG-SI LLC. O’Ree’… O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins. Learn more about O’Ree’s life … Willie Eldon O’Ree, CM, ONB (* 15. His legacy helped create for others, but O'Ree wasn't done. But he also did it despite the structural racism of hockey, including in the NHL, where he played for the Bruins. O'Ree is also under consideration for the Congressional gold medal.
O’Ree was raised in a large family in Fredericton, NB. “To me, I didn’t know I was breaking the color barrier until the next morning when I read it in the paper," O'Ree told The Undefeated. William Eldon "Willie" O'Ree is considered to be a pioneer, or "The Jackie Robinson of hockey", for being the first black player in the National Hockey League, but if you asked O'Ree, he didn't think being a pioneer was a big deal and he would rather you think and accept him as another hockey player. The groundbreaking NHL player was the pioneer that cleared a path for Jarome Iginla, PK Subban, Dustin Byfuglien and other black players to compete at the game's highest level. Born in Fredericton, New Bruinswick, O'Ree learned to skate when he was three. Willie O'Ree is known as the "Jackie Robinson of hockey," and rightfully so. Willie O'Ree and others weigh in on racism in and around hockey following George Floyd's tragic death and the reactions that ensued. O'Ree is referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of ice hockey" for breaking the black colour barrier in the sport, and has stated publicly that he had met Jackie Robinson twice in his own younger years. In the midst of America's tumultuous fight to end Jim Crow and the birth of the civil rights movement, Willie - the descendant of escaped slaves - became the first black player to skate in a National Hockey League game.
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