50th anniversary for trailblazing O'Ree

The Bruins were also hurting that night. Defensive stalwart Bob Armstrong, firebrand Leo Labine & offensive power Real Chevrefils were missing from action..Buddy Boone had also been called up..Coach Schmidt had moved Fleming Mackell from his regular line...Enter Willie O'Ree.. Veteran netminder Harry Lumley had just replaced the injured Don Simmons & was posting a stellar shutout...The Bruins of the late 1950s were a powerhouse & the intense rivalry with Les Canadiens was a constant, ongoing affair of epic proportions...Witness that night's score.."Plus ca change"...Cheers!!

I well remember O'Ree's first NHL appearance. It gained a lot of notice at the time. It did my heart good to see one more "racial barrier" broken, although I must confess my joy was dampened a bit by the Canadiens loss. I'd like to think that a little thing like race never would have prevented Frank Selke from taking on a player he thought could help the Canadiens, although racism was rampant and not at all subtle at the time. There were only six NHL teams then, only about 100 player slots available and not that many players of colour. At least their number was miniscule compared to the number of white players. But I've read that Herb Carnegie's exclusion a bit earlier from the NHL was racially motivated, that he had all the talent in the world, and he played a lot in Quebec. O'Ree has received quite a bit of attention in Southern California. The Los Angeles Times gave him a big write-up a few years ago, when he was living, I believe, in San Diego. Maurice Richard was absent from the lineup that night because he missed a good part of the season after Marc Reaume's skate sliced his Achilles tendon in Maple Leaf Gardens. That set the stage for the greatest comeback performance in NHL history, when the Rocket single handedly took over the playoffs. If there was one thing that demonstrated how truly great the Rocket was, it is what he did that spring as the NHL's oldest player, supposedly washed up. It was his last great hurrah. Dave Stubbs no doubt will be posting about that when the 50th anniversary rolls around in a couple of months, so I'll save further comment for then.

Dave, Great article. Thank you for this. I'm glad that the NHL is starting to take steps to make the league open to others such as the work Wily O'Ree is doing. God Bless him. At the end of the day, your talent, desire and work ethic as a player should be the only factor to consider. Nothing else. Be it race, religion, ethnicity, etc. I only hope that a player like P.K. Subban dresses for the Canadiens because as far as I can tell, we've never had a black player on our team before. But more importantly, because he seems to be a hell of hockey player who will make our team better. On the flip side, when you see players like Simon make racial slurs versus Mike Grier (to Simon's credit he apologized) or when Ted Nolan (a native indian) was effectively black-balled from the NHL for many years, you realize the NHL still has a long way to go. I think when we regularly see minorities in management, scouting and coaching positions in the NHL, we will have finally arrived. I'm not saying this to be politically correct but that diversity can only bring out the best and improve the NHL even more. I only look at the positive influence Europeans brought to the NHL as an example. Not even 25 years ago, Russians were considered the enemy. Today, arguably the best player on the Montreal Canadiens is one.

Fascinating. Here in Fredericton there's a well-deserved celebration of O'Ree's accomplishments. One question, though . . . I thought the game was a 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadians. And yet, on the "Official Report of the Match" included above, the score is pretty clearly inscribed as 5 - 0! The digit "5" though seems a little more pronounced than the other numbers, maybe it's a bad facsimilie. Or - gasp! -could it be the Habs lost by 5, and not 3?

Great article, I had some older friends who played against Willie in New Brunswick, tough as nails they said!! The Red Sox didn't fully integrate until 1967 and had a chance to acquire Willie Mays as a prospect but Yawkey the Red Sox owner was a racist and refused.

... an interesting fact about that game, is there was no one named 'Richard' playing for the Habs that night, but someone named 'Gene Achtymichuk' WAS listed. Maybe the absence of the Rocket could help explain the result: a 3 - 0 loss.

... I had the pleasure and opportunity to speak with Willie after morning worship yesterday. (He is home for the Fredericton festivities in his honour, and he attended church yesterday, where he was a member of the parish I now attend.) ... we recounted the day about fifty years ago - I was about ten, and he twenty - that he arrived at my Little League diamond in Marysville. He was home that summer from the Quebec Aces, and as he continues to do today, Willie always made a point of visiting us kids, to show interest in our games, but more so, to support, encourage and inspire us towards our goal: to be the best in life we could be. ... we are all the better for having known Willie O’Ree and for having had his example to follow.

Haven't had time to read the articles yet but will. And to think the Bruins had a black athlete on there team before the Red Sox.

Fantastic stuff! GO HABS GO