Giving Voice to Hockey History

Sixty-three years ago Monday, on Jan. 18, 1958, Willie O'Ree made history as the first Black player in the NHL when debuted as a 22-year-old with the Boston Bruins. O'Ree played two NHL games that season and another 43 with Boston in the 1960-61 season. He starred in the then-pro Western Hockey League, which was highly competitive due to only six NHL teams rostering players until the late 1960s.
Though O'Ree finally retired as a player at 43, he remains a prominent and effective advocate for inclusion in hockey across all levels of the sport. He was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 as one of the game's greatest "Builders." The Bruins announced recently they will retire O'Ree's No. 22 jersey before a Feb. 18 home game against New Jersey. All NHL players will be wearing a Willie O'Ree celebratory decal on their game helmets starting with this past Saturday's games through the end of February to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month in February and O'Ree's central role in growing the game.

In this MLK Day tribute essay, Seattle Kraken team broadcaster Everett Fitzhugh shares his personal perspective about Willie O'Ree's hockey journey and advocacy.

My fandom for the game started in the third grade when I first saw Mike Grier and Georges Laraque skating for the Edmonton Oilers. The duo morphed into a trio a couple seasons later when Anson Carter joined the team. As a black kid growing up in Detroit, hockey was a staple in my childhood.
Even though I never played organized hockey, I read and watched everything I could about the game. But I still felt there was not a proper place for me in the game. It was inspiring to see people who looked like me playing at the highest level of the sport. I followed a few other black players in my early years as a hockey fan, but I was curious: Who was the first? As an avid baseball fan growing up, and still to this day, I wondered, who was hockey's Jackie Robinson?
I don't recall the exact moment I first learned of Willie O'Ree in my youth, I do remember a feeling of inspiration and pride whenever I came across his name. Much like Mr. Robinson, Mr. O'Ree's journey to the grandest stage of his sport was not an easy one. It was filled with setbacks, trials, tribulations and a prevailing belief he was not supposed to be in the sport because he was a Black man.

Despite it all, steadfastly not accepting such a belief, Mr. O'Ree made his debut for the Boston Bruins during the 1960-61 season. He not only etched his place in history as the first Black man to skate in the NHL, Mr. O'Ree became a beacon of hope for Black kids that there isa place for us in this game.
When I was approached by Penguin Publishing Canada this past summer about my wiliness to voice the audio version of Mr. O'Ree's autobiography, "Willie: The Game-Changing Story of the NHL's First Black Hockey Player," I almost did not think it was real. To be able to lend my voice in the telling of Mr. O'Ree's incredible life's story was something that I never thought was in the realm of possibility.
As I read his story and learned more about his journey, those long-held feelings of inspiration and pride came rushing back. There was so much of his story that I did not know. He did not just happen to find his way to the Boston Garden and suit up for the Bruins. He was constantly sacrificing and having to prove that he belonged, even though sometimes it was clear that he was the most talented player on the ice.
The naysayers were many, but his support system was strong. He was not going to let anything, including being blind in one eye, stop him from reaching the NHL.

Throughout the process, I experienced many emotions. Every stage of Mr. O'Ree's life offered a different set of challenges. I found myself relating to the same feelings of his joy and happiness, sadness and anger, and an unrelenting determination.
I felt I was going on the journey with him. When he was learning the game on the frozen ponds of the Canadian province of New Brunswick,* wewere learning the game on the frozen ponds. When he got sent back to the minors, we* got sent back to the minors. When he experienced racism at various rinks, we experienced racism at various rinks. And when he finally made his Boston Bruins debut, I felt like I was on the ice with him.
As he has done throughout his life and hockey career, Mr. O'Ree, 85, continues to be an advocate for historically underrepresented communities, working to be sure that all are truly welcome and included in the game of hockey. Through multiple programs and initiatives as an executive and ambassador with the NHL, Mr. O'Ree is still helping people find their place and their voice within our game. Perhaps that's the most inspirational piece of his story. The opportunity to help tell his story is something that I will never forget. I am forever thankful and indebted to Mr. O'Ree for allowing me to be a part of it.