Willie O'Ree - Celebration of a Hockey Legend

On January 18, 1958, playing for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens, Willie O'Ree became the first black person to play in the NHL -- an extraordinary event that paved the way for future players of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

O'Ree is now the National Hockey League's Director of Youth Development and ambassador for NHL Diversity, a post he has held since January 1998.

O'Ree played 45 games with the Bruins from 1958-61.  His long professional career spanned 21 seasons, mostly in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Los Angeles Blades and the San Diego Gulls. 

As Director of Youth Development, O'Ree has helped the NHL Diversity program expose more than 40,000 boys and girls of diverse backgrounds to unique hockey experiences.  Over the past decade, he has traveled thousands of miles across North America helping to establish 39 local grassroots hockey programs, all geared towards serving economically disadvantaged youth.  While advocating strongly that "Hockey is for Everyone," O'Ree stresses the importance of essential life skills, education, and the core values of hockey, which are: commitment, perseverance and teamwork.

O'Ree is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In addition to being inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, he received the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States in 2003. He was named to the Order of New Brunswick in 2005. In 2007 O'Ree became the inaugural recipient of the Bill Walsh Champion of Change Award, which recognizes an individual whose tenaciousness of purpose paved a path of opportunity to everyone.

The 2007-2008 hockey season will mark the fiftieth anniversary of O'Ree's debut with the Boston Bruins and the NHL will host numerous activities throughout the season at both the local and national levels—including events celebrating the diversity of the game and the Hockey is for Everyone initiative.

O'Ree resides in San Diego, California with his wife, Deljeet, and daughter Chandra.