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The year 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of two significant events in New Brunswick and Canada's sports heritage: on January 18th of 1958, Willie O'Ree made history when he became the first black player in the National Hockey League when he suited up for the Boston Bruins; and on December 10th, 1958, Yvon Durelle and Archie Moore met in the Montreal Forum in one of boxing's greatest fights ever, the World Light-heavyweight Championship.

Born in Fredericton, NB, the youngest of 13 children, Willie O'Ree always stood out on the ice - not just because of the colour of his skin - but because he was an excellent athlete. Like many Canadian kids, all O'Ree wanted to be was a hockey player but, being black, extra challenges faced him on the way to achieving his dream. After completing high school, Willie headed to Quebec to play junior hockey which led to his signing with the Bruins. Despite his talents and contributions to the team, O'Ree was berated constantly by opposing fans and player because of his colour. Overcoming racial slurs, death threats and physical challenges, O'Ree would go on to have a 21-season, 10-team professional career as a player. Today, in his early seventies, O'Ree continues as the Director of the National Hockey League's Youth Development and an ambassador for NHL diversity, roles which see him travel across North America to speak to boys and girls and expose them to hockey experiences.

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Map of New Brunswick
2009
New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
Collection of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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Fredericton, New Brunswick's capital city lies 521 miles northeast of New York City. New Brunswick occupies an area larger than the stares of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maryland combined, but has a population of only around 800,000.

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Willie and Some of His Siblings
c. 1945
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
NB Film Co-op, Echoes in the Rink: The Willie O'Ree Story
D. Stoddard

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Hockey remained Willie's passion, in the summer he turned to baseball, building game times around his chores around the family's home. 245 Charlotte Street featured a huge garden - corn, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, rhubarb, cucumbers - and a henhouse. Willie's job was weeding the garden.

These chores were shared with is 12 older siblings.

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Willie as a Senior Capital
c. 1952
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
Collection of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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Willie played hockey throughout his childhood, pee wee, bantam, midget and junior. It was while playing for the Fredericton Junior Capitals of the New Brunswick Junior Hockey League, that he stared to gain a reputation as a talented player. He joined the Senior Capitals when he was seventeen.

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Marysville Royals, New Brunswick Senior Champions
1955
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
Collection of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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While playing for the Marysville Royals, a New Brunswick senior baseball team, he was spotted by a Milwaukee Braves scout. Willie went to try out for them at their camp in Georgia. He enjoyed the experience, but kept asking himself: "Why am I here? I want to be a professional hockey player." Willie did not make the team.

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Whites Only Sign
1955

Credits:
website: www.crmvet.org

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He was happy that he hadn't made the team, but was disheartened and discouraged by his reception as a black man in America. He'd been surrounded by "Whites Only" signs and forced, after crossing the American border, to sit closer to the back of the bus. Confined to the back for five days on his return journey, he made his way closer to the front as the bus made its way north. At the Canadian border, he was in the front seat. "I was home and knew more than ever the truth in my life: I was going to be a hockey player."

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Willie as a Boston Bruin
c. 1958

Credits:
Collection of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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His first game with the Bruins was played in the Montreal Forum on January 18th, 1958.

Less than one year later Yvon Durelle would meet Archie Moore in this very building.

"I can't properly describe the thrill," he said, pulling on that brown and gold jersey "I was Willie O'Ree, Boston Bruin."

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Willie as a Boston Bruin
1960

Credits:
Collection of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame