O'Ree finalist spotlight: Karen Ota O'Brien

Voting for the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award is underway. The award is given to an individual who, through hockey, has positively impacted his or her community culture or society. The award honors Willie O'Ree, the former NHL forward who became the first Black player to play in the NHL on Jan. 18, 1958, and has spent more than two decades as the NHL's diversity ambassador. The winner is determined by a fan vote, which is from April 3-16, as well as a judging panel with weighted votes from Willie O'Ree, the NHL and, for the award in Canada, representatives from Hyundai. New this year, there will be a winner from the United States, and one from Canada. Today, a look at United States finalist Karen Ota-O'Brien.

Karen Ota-O'Brien grew up with an incredible work ethic, living on a cattle ranch in 100 Mile House, British Columbia, about 300 miles from Vancouver. She was also average; a B student, C-plus in physical education, benchwarmer on the travel softball team and perennial runner-up at the Little Britches Rodeo.

Organized girls' hockey didn't exist in the logging community, so Ota-O'Brien learned to skate on acres of frozen hay fields. Life then took her to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Pompano Beach, Florida, and eventually founder of the Florida Women's Hockey League.

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She's heard of Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O'Ree, the first Black player to compete in the NHL for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Jan. 18, 1958. She knew nothing about the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award until a phone call from the NHL told her she was a 2023 finalist, the winner receiving a $25,000 prize for a chosen charity.
Score one for the underdogs.

"I'm always rooting for the gals that aren't the top scholar-athletic people, because that's where I am, in the stepping pole or whatever you want to call it," Ota-O'Brien said.

O'Ree is NHL diversity ambassador for Hockey is For Everyone, with more than two decades of having a positive impact on community, culture or society. It's what's the award represents and how Ota-O'Brien has grown the FWHL, a nonprofit organization she founded in 2002 for adult women with 11 teams between Pensacola, Jacksonville and Miami. One team, Lucky Pucks, swept all three Florida divisions of a league tournament in February.

The league also holds Girls Night Out skates, open weekly to women of all levels to play at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs and Boca Ice & Fine Arts Center in Boca Raton. Recent additions are a novice division and teams from the University of Miami and University of Tampa.

"We are getting quite established," Ota-O'Brien said. "We changed homes to the IceDen and that just opened up so much more opportunities and exposure."

Ota-O'Brien flew to St. Thomas in her early 20s with $500 on her first Visa card. She wanted to be a divemaster, her Native Indian status (Japanese and Simpcw First Nation heritage) allowing her to work anywhere in the United States or its territories. She became a stewardess on a transatlantic, 145-foot private yacht for nine months, traveling to 13 countries, and worked at Cafe Maxx in Pompano Beach, where male friends invited her to play a midnight game against a traveling women's team from Montreal in town for a tournament.

The coed team was "smoked," but it was a baseline. One night out with friends, Ota-O'Brien took notes on a bar napkin and conceptualized the FWHL. The game has become therapeutic for women, Ota-O'Brien's ongoing journey inspired by 2022 O'Ree Award winner Noel Acton, whose work with the nonprofit Tender Bridge Foundation is encouraging her to reach out to kids from the poor regions of Broward County.

Even if Ota-O'Brien doesn't win the award, she believes she's already won.

"It's totally cool being recognized," Ota-O'Brien said. "There's been a couple of women who came into our program. They start talking … women that have been in bad relationships. The camaraderie and the sisterhood that we have, it enabled them to give them the support system to get out of those situations. That's kind of a pretty cool thing as well."

Not bad for a C-plus player.

The winner from Canada will receive the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai in Canada. The Canadian winner will be announced on Sportsnet during the 2023 Stanley Cup Final and the U.S. winner will be announced at the NHL Awards on June 26 in Nashville. Each winner will receive a $25,000 USD prize and the four remaining finalists will receive $5,000, to be donated to a charity of their choice.