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50 Years Ago Today: Willie O'Ree Breaks the NHL Color Barrier

Written by Maury Brown

Friday, 18 January 2008 05:54                      #####   BEGINNING OF EXCERPT   ######

While it is Jackie Robinson that is often cited as a pioneer for breaking the color barrier in North American professional sports, it may be Willie O'Ree whose entry into the world of the NHL that should be considered as great a moment, along side of Robinson. Where Robinson had the Negro Leagues in baseball as the launching pad into minor league baseball (the Montreal Royals) and then Major League Baseball (the Brooklyn Dodgers), O'Ree broke through without a "Negro Hockey League", but rather worked his way through playing on teams in his native Fredericton in New Brunswick, Canada starting at the age of 5, where his older brother Richard served as his mentor. Willie O'Ree surely must have been the only hockey player of color at the time. Like most aspiring athletes, he worked his way up through each consectutive system. Whether it was Quebec Junior Hockey League in 1954, Quebec Hockey League, and finally being called up to the National Hockey League where he became the first player to break the NHL's color barrier. The 50th anniversary of that momentous call up by the Boston Bruins takes place today. On January 18, 1958 O'Ree took the ice against the Canadiens in Montreal. O'Ree played on a line with Don McKenney and Jerry Toppazzini and helped the Bruins defeat the Canadiens, 3-0. "I guess I've always hoped that some day I might make the National Hockey League. I've thought about it ever since I began listening to the Saturday night broadcasts from Toronto by Foster Hewitt.," O'Ree said of the moment in Feb. 1, 1958 edition of The Hockey News. "I was the most surprised guy in the world when I found out I was going to play for the Bruins. In fact, I still am. After all, I thought there were several other guys Boston could have called up before me."

 

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END OF ARTICLE BY AUTHOR FOLLOWS:

 

Diversity Milestones in the NHL

1949 - George Armstrong becomes the first Native-Canadian (First Nation) to play in the NHL (Toronto Maple Leafs).

1950 - Art Dorrington becomes the first black player to sign a contract with an NHL team when he joined the New York Rangers organization. He never made it to the NHL.

1958 - Willie O'Ree breaks the NHL color barrier during his debut with Boston (January 18).

1984 - Grant Fuhr becomes the first black player to win the Stanley Cup (Edmonton Oilers)

1988 - Grant Fuhr becomes the first black player to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie.

- Dirk Graham is the first black player named captain of an NHL team (Chicago Blackhawks).

- Tony McKegney becomes the first black player to score 40 goals (St. Louis Blues).

1990 - Jim Paek becomes the first Asian to play in the NHL (Pittsburgh Penguins).

1991 - Bill Guerin becomes the first Hispanic to play in the NHL (New Jersey Devils).

- Tony McKegney becomes the first minority to play on the Canadian National Team.

1994 - John Paris of Windsor, Nova Scotia, leads the Atlanta Knights to the International Hockey League championship as the first black head coach in professional hockey.

1995 - Paul Kariya becomes the first Asian player to score 50 goals in a season (Anaheim Ducks).

1998 - Dirk Graham becomes the first black to serve as head coach in the NHL (Chicago).

2000 - Scott Gomez, of Mexican and Colombian descent, wins the Calder Memorial Trophy.

2002 - Jarome Iginla becomes the first player of African descent to win the Art Ross Trophy, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award.

2003 - Jordin Tootoo becomes the first native Inuit to play in the NHL (Nashville).

- Grant Fuhr becomes the first black inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

- Gerald Coleman becomes the first NHL Diversity program graduate selected in the NHL Draft (224th overall by Tampa Bay).

2006 - Jonathan Cheechoo, the first member of the Moose Cree First Nation to play in the NHL, wins the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy.

12 black players who have played in the NHL this season:

• Donald Brashear (WSH)
• Dustin Byfuglien (CHI)
• Trevor Daley (DAL)
• Nigel Dawes (NYR)
• Ray Emery (OTT)
• Mike Grier (SJ)
• Jarome Iginla (CGY)
• Georges Laraque (PIT)
• Jamal Mayers (STL)
• John Oduya (NJ)
• Bryce Salvador (STL)
• Kevin Weekes (NJ)

 

 

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