It took 60 years and many supporters before a deserving Willie O’Ree was finally made a member of the iconic Hockey Hall of Fame.

It was in 1958 when O’Ree valiantly stepped on the ice and stick-handled his way into becoming the first Black player to ever play in the National Hockey League.
O’Ree, now 82, is often dubbed the “Jackie Robinson of hockey.” He is still very active and serves as a NHL diversity ambassador.
He was inducted last month into the cherished hall in the builders’ category and becomes the third Black person to make it to the top of the sport. O’Ree joins Edmonton Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr and Canadian women’s national team captain Angela James.
There are now about two dozen Black players on NHL rosters.
The partially-blind O’Ree has been instrumental the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone program that introduces the game to children that might not normally see a path in the sport. The league even established the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award last season.

“There’s not enough words to say how pleased I am. I was laughing and I was crying,” an ecstatic O’Ree told the Toronto Star after the induction. “I’m just so happy that I’m alive to be able to share this.
He was also honoured by the Boston Bruins last January 17 to mark the 60th anniversary of when he took to the ice for the team to become the league’s first Black player.
His first game with Boston resulted in a 3-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens. He recalled that he didn’t know the significance of the game until reading a newspaper the next day that said he had broken the NHL’s colour barrier.
“It was a nice feeling,” O’Ree recalled to The Canadian Press. “I just happened to be playing and just happened to be Black.”
He only played one more game with the Bruins that season. He returned to the team for the 1960-61 season, playing a total of 45 games in the NHL, scoring a respectable four goals and 10 assists.

The athlete touched Boston residents so much in his brief stint there that they also named a street and hockey rink after him.
Organizers received many letters of support for his induction; including one from Karl Subban, whose famous sons P.K. play for the Nashville Predators, Malcolm with the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Jordan, who was recently signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Subban said O’Ree broke the colour barrier for the Bruins in 1958, the same year that he was born.
“He is a pioneer and a trailblazer,” he wrote. “Willie achieved in the face of adversity. He changed the game and he changed society and he changed minds.”
Subban noted that O’Ree made it possible for his sons to play professional hockey.
“He changed hockey which is now for everyone,” he said. “Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right!”

“Willie loved hockey so much that it helped him deal with and overcome all the challenges and racism he faced during his life and hockey career,” said Mike Eagles, a friend and former NHLer for 16 seasons.
O’Ree left Fredericton in 1954 at the age of 17 to play junior hockey with the Quebec Frontenacs. The next year he moved to Kitchener. It was during that second year in junior that he had an unfortunate accident.
“There was a slapshot, and I’m on the ice in front of the net. A ricochet came up and the puck struck me in the eye. I lost 97 per cent vision in my right eye. I was out of action for about six weeks,” he later recalled.
Throughout his career and the many obstacles he faced, O’Ree never told others that he was blind in one eye, which meant he would not be allowed to play in the NHL.
Following his stint within the Bruins, he played in other leagues for teams in Ottawa, Los Angeles and San Diego.