Willie O'Ree

Lore & Background

O'Ree was the youngest of nine siblings; his grandparents were escapees of slavery in the United States, moving to Canada through the Underground Railroad. He began skating at age three and started organized hockey at age five. At 14, he was taught how to bodycheck by his older brother Richard. O'Ree also played baseball for Fredericton's West Enders team, and in October 1950 he received an outstanding player trophy. At that age, he met Jackie Robinson. O'Ree was predicted by a sportswriter to have the potential to become 'another Don Newcombe, Sam Jethroe, or Jackie Robinson.' Two years before his NHL debut, O'Ree had been blinded when hit in his right eye by an errant puck; he kept this secret from the Bruins. He made his NHL debut on January 18, 1958, against the Montreal Canadiens, playing two games that year. He played 43 games for the Bruins during the 1960–61 season. During a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, he was called racist names, and Eric Nesterenko butt-ended him, knocking out his two front teeth and breaking his nose. O'Ree responded by hitting Nesterenko over the head with his stick. After that season, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens but was sent to a minor league team in Hull, Quebec. O'Ree faced racial taunts throughout his career, noting that racist remarks were much worse in U.S. cities than in Toronto and Montreal. He continued playing in the minors until age 43.

Reader's Guide

O'Ree's breaking of the NHL's colour barrier in 1958 is his central legacy. After his stint, no other black players appeared in the NHL until Mike Marson was drafted in 1974. As of the mid-2010s, there were 23 black players in the NHL. The league now requires preseason diversity training, and racially based verbal abuse is punished through suspensions and fines. Since 1998, O'Ree has been the NHL's Diversity Ambassador, traveling across North America to promote inclusion, dedication, and confidence. Starting in the 2017–18 season, the NHL instituted the annual Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award, recognizing an individual who has positively impacted community, culture, or society through hockey. O'Ree was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in March 1984, received the Order of Canada in 2008, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. The San Diego Gulls retired his number, which hangs from the rafters at Pechanga Arena. The Sports Museum at TD Garden established a special exhibit on his career.

Did You Know?

• O'Ree was blinded in his right eye by an errant puck two years before his NHL debut, but kept it secret from the Bruins.
• He met Jackie Robinson when he was 14 years old.
• O'Ree scored 4 goals and 10 assists in his NHL career, all in 1961.
• He played minor league hockey until the age of 43.

Roots in Fredericton

William Eldon O'Ree was born on October 15, 1935, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the youngest of nine children of Harry, a civil engineer and road maintenance worker, and Rosebud. His family's history reached back to his grandparents, who escaped slavery in the United States and made their way to Canada through the Underground Railroad. The Black community in Fredericton during his youth was tiny—only two families lived in the city—so O'Ree's presence on any ice surface carried a quiet significance. He first laced up skates at three and joined organized hockey at five, spending hours on a backyard rink and skating to school whenever the weather permitted. By fourteen, his older brother Richard had shown him how to deliver a proper bodycheck, and O'Ree was simultaneously excelling in baseball for the West Enders, collecting an outstanding player trophy in October 1950. A local sportswriter named Jack Riley predicted the teenager could rival Jackie Robinson, and O'Ree would indeed meet the baseball icon that same year. At fifteen he competed in the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Association playoffs with the Fredericton Falcons, though a league rule about prior intermediate-level play briefly put his high school eligibility in question.

Breaking the Barrier

After signing with the Quebec Aces in 1955, O'Ree was called up to the Boston Bruins mid-season to replace the ill Leo Labine. What the Bruins did not know: two years earlier, an errant puck had struck O'Ree in the right eye, rendering it blind. He kept the injury secret, and on January 18, 1958, he stepped onto the ice against the Montreal Canadiens to become the first Black player in NHL history. He appeared in two games that season, skating alongside Don McKenney and Jerry Toppazzini. His most substantial NHL stretch came in 1960–61, when he played 43 games for Boston. A game at Chicago Stadium that season turned violent: O'Ree recalled racist slurs from several Blackhawks players, and Eric Nesterenko butt-ended him, knocking out two front teeth and shattering his nose. O'Ree swung his stick over Nesterenko's head, an act he described as nearly sparking a riot. He later said he was "lucky to get out of the arena alive." After that season he was traded to Montreal, where he described the organization as racist and was sent to a minor-league team in Hull, Quebec. His entire NHL point total—four goals and ten assists—came in 1961.

Resilience in the Minors

O'Ree's career extended well beyond his brief NHL appearances. He spent the bulk of his playing years in the Western Hockey League, where he won two scoring titles between 1961 and 1974 and crossed the 30-goal mark four separate times, peaking at 38 goals in both the 1964–65 and 1968–69 seasons. He also logged 50 games with the American Hockey League's New Haven Nighthawks during 1972–73. The Los Angeles Blades and San Diego Gulls were his most frequent WHL homes, and the Gulls eventually retired his number, which now hangs from the rafters at Pechanga Arena, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena. O'Ree continued to play professional hockey until he was 43 years old. Throughout those years, racial taunts followed him, particularly in American cities. He recalled fans shouting "Go back to the South" and "How come you're not picking cotton?" He noted the abuse was far worse in the United States than in Toronto or Montreal. His response was characteristically defiant: "It didn't bother me. I just wanted to be a hockey player, and if they couldn't accept that fact, then that was their problem, not mine."

Legacy and the Road Ahead

O'Ree's trailblazing appearance in 1958 did not immediately open the door for others. No Black player suited up in the NHL again until Mike Marson was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1974. Art Dorrington had signed an NHL contract with the New York Rangers organization in 1950 but never played beyond the minor leagues. By the mid-2010s, 23 Black players had appeared in the league. The structural changes have been gradual but real: NHL players are now required to attend a preseason diversity training seminar, and racially motivated verbal abuse carries suspensions and fines. O'Ree himself has served as the NHL's Diversity Ambassador since 1998, traveling across North America to schools and youth programs to champion inclusion, dedication, and confidence. In 2018 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and beginning with the 2017–18 season the league inaugurated the annual Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award, recognizing an individual who, through hockey, has positively impacted a community, culture, or society. He is often called the "Jackie Robinson of hockey," a comparison he lived up to by meeting Robinson in his youth and carrying that legacy forward on the ice.