Willie O'Ree, born on October 15, 1935, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, holds the distinction of being the first Black hockey player to participate in a National Hockey League (NHL) game. He made his debut with the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958, playing against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum.
Throughout his career, O'Ree served as a winger for the Boston Bruins and is celebrated for breaking the NHL's racial barriers. After his time in the league, there were no other Black players until Mike Marson, a fellow Canadian, was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1974. As of the mid-2010s, the number of Black players in the NHL had grown to 23.
O'Ree's passion for hockey began at an early age, starting at three years old when he first took up skating and playing. He continued to develop his skills and joined a hockey league at the age of five. Skin color was never an issue in the early rinks where he played, as he described in his autobiography, "The Willie O’Ree Story: Hockey’s Black Pioneer."
Today, at the age of 87, O'Ree is a retired Canadian ice hockey legend who made an indelible impact on the sport by breaking racial barriers and paving the way for future generations of Black players in the NHL.