{"id":857971,"date":"2018-11-10T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=857971"},"modified":"2018-11-10T22:13:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T03:13:10","slug":"the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Deserving Hockey Hall Of Famer"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a puck smacked him in the face at age 19, blinding his right eye, he remained close-lipped regarding his impairment so no doctor would deem him unfit to play.<\/p>\n

He was attacked by a throng of racist fans at Madison Square Garden who attempted to jerk him into the stands after they pulled his jersey over his head.<\/p>\n

”People were grabbing at me, yelling at me, using all the old, ugly words, I was punching, kicking. I wasn’t going to let them pull me into the stands.”<\/p>\n

The Boston Bruin forward had gone hard into the boards in the defensive zone of the Rangers. The wire mesh, which protected the fans from the puck and the players from the fans, had given way, and he was fed to an angry mob.<\/p>\n

The New York Times tells us:<\/p>\n

“The racial epithets burned in his ears. Beer ran down his neck. And a lot flashed through his mind before his teammates and opponents finally hauled him back through the fallen barrier.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

”I don’t even like to think now what might have happened had they got me up there. I just came to the conclusion at the time that the only safe place was on the ice.”<\/p>\n

Who is this NHL player?<\/p>\n

A black man from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada named\u00a0Willie O’Ree<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

O\u2019Ree, the NHL’s\u00a0first black player will be inducted into the HockeyHall of Fame on Monday as a member of the 2018 class.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll join\u00a0New Jersey Devils\u00a0legendary goalie Martin Brodeur<\/a>,\u00a0 former\u00a0Tampa Bay\u00a0Lightning face of the franchise Martin St. Louis<\/a>, Russian star\u00a0Alexander Yakushev,<\/a>\u00a0Canadian women\u2019s hockey standout and\u00a0Canadian Women\u2019s Hockey\u00a0League Commissioner\u00a0Jayna Hefford<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman\u00a0as the Hall\u2019s newest inductees.<\/p>\n

O’Ree becomes the third black person enshrined in the Hall of Fame, joining\u00a0Edmonton Oilers\u00a0goalie Grant Fuhr<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Angela James<\/a>, a Canadian women\u2019s hockey superstar who is regarded as the female\u00a0Wayne Gretzky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He ultimately played just 45 games in the NHL, and 13 years would go by before anyone followed in his trailblazing footsteps.<\/p>\n[protected-iframe id=”bae1494e02bfb4f96573524526240402-142507471-46289989″ info=”\/\/widgets.sports-reference.com\/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=hr&url=%2Fplayers%2Fo%2Foreewi01.html&div=div_stats_basic_nhl” ]\n

The climate O’Ree played in was an intolerant one. Hockey games were attended almost exclusively by whites. The NHL and its minor league teams played a game that promoted violence, especially against a man of color.<\/p>\n

After being released by the Bruins in 1961, he never played another NHL game. But his pro career was not finished.<\/p>\n

O’Ree spent 14 seasons in the Western Hockey League where he earned two scoring titles, netting 30+ goals four times, with a high of 38.<\/p>\n

He played 50 games with the American Hockey League’s New Haven Nighthawks in 1972-73, scoring 20 goals and dishing 24 assists.<\/p>\n

At 43 years old, O’Ree played his last game with the San Diego Hawks of the Pacific Hockey League where he scored 21 goals, 23 assists in 53 games.<\/p>\n

He will be enshrined because of his work off the ice. O’Ree is responsible for the propagation of minority players and the diversification of the NHL and the sport of hockey itself.<\/p>\n

Before Willie O’Ree, only the puck was black.<\/p>\n

The NHL has intentionally ignored diversity from its inception and O’Ree has boldly challenged the old white guard.<\/p>\n[youtube=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=prlN67wWPik&w=560&h=315]\n

The NHL can’t erase its racist past, but because of O’Ree, over 45,000 minority kids are enjoying the greatest sport on earth.<\/p>\n

It is for these reasons that 83-year-old Willie O’Ree deserves induction more than anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about the highest award that I\u2019d ever get as far as playing hockey and my work with the\u00a0\u2018Hockey is for Everyone\u2019<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0program,\u201d O\u2019Ree said.\u00a0 “I\u2019m blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow us on Twitter @NHLShout<\/a> and “Like” us on Facebook<\/a>.\u00a0You can also email us at info@nhlshout.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a puck smacked him in the face at age 19, blinding his right eye, he remained close-lipped regarding his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":858006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703638946,652475993],"tags":[526903,652476047,652476049,109243,529049,648147149,1994,581904,647220340,652476046,399014,915700,1330477,652476051,109246,1996,652476045,652476050,652476048,116053,361408,610259398],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Most Deserving Hockey Hall Of Famer - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Most Deserving Hockey Hall Of Famer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Sports Daily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-11T00:00:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-11T03:13:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pbaaihxtooablra-800x450-nopad.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\"},\"headline\":\"The Most Deserving Hockey Hall Of Famer\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-11T00:00:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-11T03:13:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pbaaihxtooablra-800x450-nopad.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AHL\",\"Alexander Yakushev\",\"Angela James\",\"Boston Bruins\",\"gary bettman\",\"Grant Fuhr\",\"hockey\",\"Hockey Hall of Fame\",\"Hockey is for everyone\",\"Jayna Hefford\",\"madison square garden\",\"Martin Brodeur\",\"Martin St. Louis\",\"New Haven Nighthawks\",\"new york rangers\",\"NHL\",\"PCL\",\"PHL\",\"San Diego Hawks\",\"Wayne Gretzky\",\"WHL\",\"Willie O'Ree\"],\"articleSection\":[\"NHL News and Rumors\",\"NHL Shout\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the-most-deserving-hockey-hall-of-famer\/\",\"name\":\"The Most Deserving Hockey Hall Of Famer - 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