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Willie O’Ree goes from Hockey Hall of Fame plaque to San Diego bobblehead

18 Sunday Nov 2018

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What do you do for a man who’s just been immortalized on a Hockey Hall of Fame plaque? Make a bobblehead in his image.

That’s what the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League did for Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player.

San Diego honored O’Ree, who played seven seasons for Gulls teams that skated in the defunct Western Hockey League and Pacific Hockey League, at a home game Friday night after he was enshrined at the Hall Monday evening.

The Gulls, an Anaheim Ducks farm team, wore O’Ree-era throwback jerseys Friday in their game against the Bakersfield Condors, an Edmonton Oilers affiliate.

O’Ree became the NHL’s first black player on January 18, 1958 when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

He appeared in 45 games over two NHL seasons,  a remarkable feat considering that he’s blind in his right eye – the result of being struck by a puck.

But the injury didn’t prevent him from having a long and productive minor league career, most of which was played in San Diego.

“I was a San Diego Gull when I came here in 1967 and I still am,” O’Ree told the bobblehead-receiving fans inside the Valley  View Casino Center Friday.”It is the finest group of fans I ever played in front of and I am honored to be part of this tonight.”

O’Ree, who makes his home in San Diego, finished his playing career in 1978-79 as the old WHL’s 16th all-time leading scorer with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games.

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O’Ree entered the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for those who have contributed to the foundation of the game.

His induction into the Hall is a a nod to his work as the NHL’s diversity ambassador and its “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

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Willie O’Ree, inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame, says his diversity ‘work is not done’

13 Tuesday Nov 2018

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TORONTO – Displaying the humility and determination that’s typified his life and career, Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday night.

In a moving speech, the 83-year-old pioneer lauded hockey for embracing diversity, but added that there’s still more to do to make the sport more inclusive.

And he expects to be at the forefront of the effort.

“Tonight, I am here to tell you that we are not done because the work is not done,”  O’Ree told the packed crowd at the induction ceremony inside the Hall in Toronto. “We have barriers to break and knock down, and opportunities to give.”

He urged the audience to “return to your communities, take a look around.”

“Find a young boy or girl who needs the opportunity to play hockey and give it go them,” he added. “You never know, they may make history.”

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O’Ree got that chance on January 18, 1958 when the Boston Bruins called him up for a game against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

“All I wanted was to be a hockey player,” he said in his induction speech. “All I needed was the opportunity. To be here tonight is simply overwhelming.”

With no 24-hour news cycle of social media, the feat of him becoming the NHL’s first black player was largely confined to the local press. Even O’Ree said he didn’t know he made history until he read about it in the morning paper.

O’Ree’s NHL career was brief, 45 games over two seasons. The fact that he played that many games in the big leagues at all was amazing considering he was blind in his right eye, the result of a being struck with the puck.

But O’Ree’s Hall entry isn’t  about his player’s stats. The Hall of Fame’s selection committee admitted him as a Builder, a category reserved for for coaches, general managers, noted broadcasters and others who are regarded as pillars of the game.

O’Ree has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1996, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

He’s also a revered figure to many of the NHL’s players, who seek him out for guidance and advice. O’Ree has been a mentor, role model, and advocate in growing hockey in communities previously overlooked by the sport.

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“He’s what a builder is right out of the gate – you couldn’t make a better description of a builder,” said Grant Fuhr, the Edmonton Oilers goaltending great who became the Hall’s first black inductee in 2003. “When you see another person of color playing it gives you that thought that you can possibly play. It opens up a big door.”

O’Ree joins Fuhr and Angela James, a Canadian women’s hockey star who was regarded as the female Wayne Gretzky in her heyday, as the only black members of the Hall of Fame.

O’Ree told the Hall of Fame audience that he stood on the shoulders of others, notably the late Herb Carnegie and Manny McIntyre.

Carnegie, his brother, Ossie, and McIntyre, combined to form the “Black Aces,” the first all-black professional hockey line.

Herb Carnegie played on the semi-pro Quebec Aces with forward Jean Beliveau, who went on to become a  Canadiens legend. Beliveau regarded Carnegie as one of the best players he ever skated with.

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“As a teen, I looked up to Herb Carnegie and Manny McIntyre,” O’Ree said Monday. “They paved the way for me. They just never got the opportunity I did.”

O’Ree was enshrined Monday with New Jersey Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur,  former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers sniper Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star  and Canadian Women’s Hockey League Commissioner Jayna Hefford and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

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Hockey Hall of Famers laud the inductions of Willie O’Ree, Jayna Hefford

12 Monday Nov 2018

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TORONTO – Angela James is excited to have company.

James, the first black woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, will be joined in Toronto’s hockey shrine Monday night by Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, and Jayna Hefford, the commissioner of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and, like James, a former high-scoring player for Canada’s national teams.

 

Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James, center. is thrilled to have Willie O’Ree and Jayna Hefford join her.

Hefford becomes the sixth woman to enter the Hall, further answering the question James asked in her 2010 induction speech: “Who is next?”

“I think we’re finally almost up to a full table,” James said Sunday after skating in the Hall of Fame induction weekend’s Legends Game. “After the inductions and stuff, we can sit around and reminisce and talk about things just like the guys can. The more women there are, the better memories and times we can share together.”

James and Hefford will share that stable with former Canadian Olympic team stars Danielle Goyette and Geraldine Heaney and former U.S. Olympians Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero.

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James, who was regarded as Canada’s female Wayne Gretzky during her heyday, is equally proud about O’Ree getting into the Hall, becoming its third black inductee, joining herself and former Edmonton Oilers goaltending great Grant Fuhr.

“All three of my kids wrote projects about Willie and I know my oldest son sent a tremendous letter in support of inducting Willie and I know for sure it went to the (Hockey Hall of Fame selection) panel,” James said. “It was a long time coming. He was a trailblazer back then and he’s a trailblazer now.”

O’Ree continues to make hockey history with his induction as the first person of color to enter the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for coaches, general managers, broadcasters and others who are regarded as pillars of the game.

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O’Ree is credited with growing the game and creating a new generation of players and fans through his work as the NHL’s diversity ambassador and the “Hockey is for Everyone” program.

ORee played in 44 NHL games following his January 18, 1958 debut with the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal. Despite the brevity of his NHL career – he had a lengthy and prolific minor league career that lasted  until 1978-79 – he’s earned the respect of NHL players.

“He’s what a builder is right out of the gate – you couldn’t make a better description of a builder,” said Fuhr, who became the Hall’s first black inductee in 2003. “When you see another person of color playing it gives you that thought that you can possibly play. It opens up a big door.”,.

O’Ree and Hefford enter the Hall Monday with New Jersey Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur,  former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers sniper Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. 

The 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony will broadcast live on TSN2 in Canada and NHL Network in the United States.

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Willie O’Ree receives his Hockey Hall of Fame ring and long-deserved honor

10 Saturday Nov 2018

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TORONTO – Willie O’Ree got his Hockey Hall of Fame ring Friday and Pamela Houston got a thrill watching him get it.

“It’s almost like an Obama moment,” Houston, a member of the Ontario Black History Society said. “First black president, first black hockey player, finally getting recognition.”

O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, will be formally inducted into the Hall Monday as a member of the 2018 class.

Willie O’Ree, right, shows off his Hockey Hall of Fame ring after receiving it from Hall Chairman Lanny McDonald (Photo/Courtesy Jeffrey Auger).

He’ll join New Jersey Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur,  former Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers sniper Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star  and Canadian Women’s Hockey League Commissioner Jayna Hefford and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman as the Hall’s newest occupants.

The induction ceremony will broadcast live on TSN2 in Canada and NHL Network in the United States.

“This is about the highest award that I’d ever get as far as playing hockey and my work with the ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ program,” O’Ree, 83, said at Friday’s ring presentation ceremony. “I’m blessed.”

Each member of the Hall’s Class of 2018 received generous applause as they received their rings Monday. The clapping was a little louder when O’Ree got his.

“Long overdue,” McDonald told me afterward.

O’Ree has been the league’s diversity ambassador since 1996, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

O’Ree made history on Jan. 18, 1958, when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

The right wing from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, only played 45 NHL games over two seasons with the Bruins, tallying 4 goals and 10 assists.

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He had a long and productive minor league career, finishing as the 16th all-time leading scorer in the old Western Hockey League with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games, despite being blind in his right eye.

He’ll become the third black person enshrined in the Hall, joining Edmonton Oilers goaltending great Grant Fuhr and Angela James, a Canadian women’s hockey superstar who was regarded as a female Wayne Gretzky.

O’Ree will continue his trailblazing ways by becoming the first person of color to be inducted in the Hall as a Builder, a category reserved for those who have contributed to the foundation of the game.

His plaque will keep company with revered names like Herb Brooks, the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic men’s team hockey coach, “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcaster Foster Hewitt, Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch,  and Conn Smythe, who built the Toronto Maple Leafs into five-time Stanley Cup champions between 1945 and 1951.

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“Those are some pretty big names, and Willie richly deserves to be there,” McDonald said. “You can build in different ways. You can be an owner who’s a phenomenal philanthropist, a great visionary for his hockey team. Or you can be Willie, who has lived a life of setting an example, and such a great example, for so many young people and so many of the older generation to say ‘Wow, this guy is richly deserving of this honor.'”

Avry Lewis-McDougal, host of “Avry’s Sports Show” podcast and YouTube channel, agreed. Like Ryrerson’s Cummings, he was all smiles Friday as he watched O’Ree receive his Hall of Fame ring.

“It finally means the game is truly growing, it means we’re finally seeing true diversity in the fact we have Willie O’Ree in it (Hall of Fame), women in it,” McDougal said. “It’s incredible because we’ve waited so many years for Willie O’Ree to be in the Hall of Fame – for decades. And the fact that people finally said ‘You know what, this is wrong, Willie needs to be in here’ and the fact that the push finally worked, it’s incredible. It’s great to see.”

Kia Cummings, a 21-year-old Ryerson University sports media senior from Toronto, who interviewed O’Ree Friday as part of a documentary project said she wouldn’t be interested in hockey if it weren’t for him.

“As a Canadian, as a woman of color, as someone who is passionate about  hockey, I wanted to take the opportunity to honor him,” she said. “It’s meeting the person who made your dreams a possibility…I have a passion for hockey that goes so much further. If I want to work within a hockey organization I can do that because Willie did it before me.”

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Willie O’Ree, hockey history-maker, tours Smithsonian’s African American museum

04 Thursday Oct 2018

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The history-maker took a walk through history Wednesday.

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player and soon-to-be Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., for the first time.

O’Ree, along with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, saw artifacts and exhibits that chronicle the black experience from slavery to the segregationist Jim Crow period to the civil rights era to today’s times.

O’Ree, the NHL’s diversity ambassador for the league’s Hockey is for Everyone initiative, eyed tributes to game-changers like him, including a statue of a sliding Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

Future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Willie O’Ree examines a statue honoring baseball great Jackie Robinson at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo/Anthony Wright/National Museum of African American History and Culture).

“What black people had to go through then,” O’Ree, 82, told me. “We take a lot of things for granted but, boy, if you went through that museum it would open your eyes up – it definitely would.”

The tour left Bettman awed and inspired as well.

“I thought it was amazing,” the commissioner said. “I’m a history buff, there is an incredible amount that I learned, there’s more to be learned, and I look forward to going back.”

Willie O’Ree, left, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman listen to Damion Thomas, sports curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discuss an exhibit in the facility (Photo/Anthony Wright/National Museum of African American History and Culture).

The commissioner noticed one thing that the museum is missing: hockey.

“Among the sports, hockey doesn’t have a presence and, perhaps, we’d like to see one,”  Bettman said. “I think we have a story to tell as well. And most people aren’t aware of that story. And to have an opportunity to tell it as part of the overall museum…having a place among the other sports would not only be appropriate but would be good for people to know.”

Damion Thomas, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s sports curator, said hockey “is an area we would like to collect around and it’s something that we’re planning on doing in the future.”

Thomas was thrilled to have living history in the museum in the form of O’Ree, who became the NHL’s first black player on Jan. 18, 1958, when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

“I love sharing this history with everyone but it takes on a different meaning when you’re able to share this history with a history-maker and to be able to see how he responds to moments that he lived through and how he’s able to contextualize his own experiences within this much larger moment and space in time,” Thomas said.

Willie O’Ree made history when he entered the NHL with the Boston Bruins in January 1958.

He added: “One great things is that when you come to our museum it helps provide context to a lot of things Willie O’Ree went through and a lot of the challenges that he faced and how different aspects of society responded to those challenges.”

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O’Ree will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, along with Bettman, former New Jersey Devils goaltending great Martin Brodeur,Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star Jayna Hefford.

O’Ree, a right wing from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, only played 45 NHL games over two seasons with the Bruins, tallying 4 goals and 10 assists.

He enjoyed a long and productive minor league career, finishing as the 16th all-time leading scorer in the old Western Hockey League with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games, despite being blind in his right eye.

But O’Ree became Hall-worthy for his accomplishments off the ice. He has helped cultivate a generation of minority hockey players and fans by working tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1996, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

O’Ree will become the Hall’s third black member, joining five-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Grant Fuhr and women’s hockey superstar Angela James.

Video by Thomas Mobley/National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, to be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame

26 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Willie finally got the call from the Hall.

Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, received a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame Tuesday afternoon informing him that he’s a member of the Hall’s 2018 class.

“I was in tears,” O’Ree told me. “I’m walking on air, I can’t believe it. Unbelievable what this day has been, my God. It’s one of the greatest days I’ve experienced.”

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O’Ree, 82, will be formally inducted into the Hall in the Builder category on Nov. 12. The other 2018 inductees are former New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur,Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, Russian hockey star Alexander Yakushev, Canadian women’s hockey star Jayna Hefford, and NHLCommissioner Gary Bettman.

O’Ree will become the Hall’s third black member. Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr, who won five Stanley Cup championships, was inducted in 2003. Angela James, a Canadian forward who is regarded as the “Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey,” followed in 2010, the first year the Toronto-based Hall began inducting women.

Whenever people asked O’Ree about his chances of someday getting into the Hall of Fame, he would calmly say “that would be nice” and add “whatever will be will be.”

However, the O’Ree household in San Diego was anything but calm Tuesday. O’Ree, Bryant McBride, a former NHL executive vice president, family members, and others nervously gathered in the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time to wait for the phone to ring.

“There were four or five of us in the kitchen, just looking at each other,” McBride said.

“We were just pacing back and forth,” O’Ree added. “We knew if there was a call, it was going to come in around noon. We had about four hours of pacing back and forth.”

O’Ree made history on Jan. 18, 1958, when he skated for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens in the old Montreal Forum.

The right wing from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, only played 45 NHL games over two seasons with the Bruins, tallying 4 goals and 10 assists.

He enjoyed a long and productive minor league career, finishing as the 16th all-time leading scorer in the old Western Hockey League with 328 goals and 311 assists in 785 games, despite being blind in his right eye.

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But O’Ree became Hall-worthy for his accomplishments off the ice. He has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1996, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

He’s also a revered figure to many of the NHL’s players, who seek him out for guidance and advice.

So instead of seeking his Hall entry as a player, O’Ree’s supporters launched a drive for his induction in the hockey shrine’s Builder category, focusing on his contributions as a mentor, role model, and advocate in growing hockey in communities previously overlooked by the sport.

A Builder must exhibit “Coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general,” according to Hall rules.

O’Ree fits the criteria because he’s been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and hockey fans of color.

Willie O’Ree has the respect and awe of players across the NHL. From left to right: forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, O’Ree, and former Flyers goalie Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

“This honor is long overdue as Willie has been a tremendous figure in our game both on and off the ice for over 60 years,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs. “We are lucky to have been able to call Willie a Bruin when he made his debut in 1958 and we could not be happier for him to finally receive the recognition he so greatly deserves.”

O’Ree’s Hall admission is a testament to a grassroots movement of NHL players, past and present, elected officials across North America, and thousands of hockey fans who thought it an injustice that he wasn’t inducted years ago.

Brenda and David Sansom, longtime friends of Willie O’Ree, helped launch a public submission drive urging the Hockey Hall of Fame to induct that NHL’s first black player.

David and Brenda Sansom, friends of O’Ree from Fredericton, helped put together a 76-page public submission to the Hall’s Selection Committee. They also collected more than 300 letters, notes, and expressions of support on O’Ree’s behalf.

The Sansoms received letters from Karl Subban, father of Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban,Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subbanand LosAngeles Kings defensive prospect Jordan Subban; San Jose Sharks forwardJoel Ward; former NHLersDanny Grant and Mike Eagles;  Boston Mayor Marty Walsh; NewBrunswick Premier Brian Gallant; and Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien.

Willie O’Ree made history when he entered the NHL with the Boston Bruins in January 1958.

“Willie O’Ree’s story must not be forgotten,” Karl Subban wrote. “He made it possible to have the NHL dream and to believe they could achieve it. He changed hockey, which is now for everyone. Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right!

NHL players like Ward and Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds publicly pressed for O’Ree’s admission almost every chance they got. Simmonds penned an article in The Players’ Tribune in April, declaring that “Mr. O’Ree should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame…Mr. O’Ree should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday.”

The call to put O’Ree in the Hall also reached Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Hockey Caucus, took to the floor of the House of Representatives in March and called O’Ree “a trusted champion for diversity, a proponent of inclusion, and an inspiration for so many young players both on and off the ice.”

Fredericton Member of Parliament Matt DeCourcey told the chamber in February that “hockey fans around the world share the view that it is past due time that Willie O’Ree be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

O’Ree will get his time, and his due, in November.

“Unbelievable,” O’Ree said.

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A First Nations NHL player bypassed by history is championed by dogged reporter

14 Monday May 2018

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Like any good journalist, Irene Schmidt-Adeney loves to unravel a good mystery.

But Schmidt-Adney, a reporter for the Ayr News, a weekly publication in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, didn’t realize how deep she would have to dig to try to solve the mystery of Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle.

Henry Maracle, standing, with the N.Y. Rangers in 1930-31.

She wondered why hockey history hasn’t shown love to Maracle, an Ayr product who appears to have been the first indigenous player in the National Hockey League.

Maracle, a Mohawk from Six Nations, played 11 regular season games and four Stanley Cup Playoffs contests for the New York Rangers in 1930-31. He tallied a goal and 3 assists in his short tenure with the Blue Shirts.

Hockey historians regard Fred Sasakamoose as the first NHL’s first indigenous player with treaty status.  Sasakamoose, a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, played 11 games for the Chicago Blackhawks  in 1953-54 without registering a point.

Sasakamoose, 84, was invested in the Order of Canada last week, an honor that recognizes Canadian citizens for outstanding achievement, dedication to community or service to the nation.

Reporter Irene Schmidt-Adeney holds a jersey provided by the New York Rangers with Henry Maracle’s name and number on the back (Photo/Courtesy Irene Schmidt-Adeney/Ayr News).

Sasakamoose is also a member of the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame. the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Prince Albert Hall of Fame and the Canadian Native Hockey Hall of Fame.

“It’s great that he got the Order of Canada, but Maracle should be recognized,” said Schmidt-Adeney, who published her story about Maracle in March after months of exhaustive research. “We’re not going to go out and demand that the Order of Canada come off Fred’s neck. It would just be nice if Henry Maracle was recognized.”

Hockey historians say Fred Sasakamoose became the NHL’s first indigenous player with treaty status when he skated for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54 (Photo/Courtesy Hockey Hall of Fame).

Maracle is starting to get his due, thanks to Schmidt-Adeney’s doggedness. She reached out to the Rangers and obtained two official jerseys, complete with Maracle’s last name and Number 14 on the back.

One of the sweaters will be presented at a ceremony next month to North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton on behalf of the township. Former New York Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald, an Ayr native, and Walter Gretzky, father of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, plan to attend the event, Schmidt-Adeney said.

Plans are being formulated to present the second Rangers jersey to a representative of Six Nations of Grand River, hopefully to coincide with National Aboriginal Heritage Day on the June 21.

In addition, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto asked Schmidt-Adeney for her research on Maracle.

She noted in her March 21, 2018 article that the Hall had biographies for Maracle and Sasakamoose in its data base, but only had Sasakamoose described as indigenous.

So who was Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle?

He was a 5-foot-11 left wing whose professional career began in 1926-27 with the Springfield Indians of the old Canadian-AmericanHockey League. He spent four season with the Indians before he was traded to the Rangers in 1930-31. His hockey exploits garnered racist headlines like “Indian Puck Star” and “Redskin Icer.”

He ended his professional playing career in 1936-37 after skating for the Indians, Philadelphia Arrows, New Haven Eagles, and Bronx Tigers of the old Canadian-American Hockey League, and the Tulsa Oilers of the American Hockey Association. He briefly served the Oilers’ player/head coach during the 1936-37 season, according to HockeyDB.com.

The hockey statistics site says that Maracle played amateur senior hockey for the Detroit Holzbaugh-Fords of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League in 1938-39 

Maracle became a U.S. citizen and worked in auto and tire plants in Detroit. He gave up his Mohawk status in 1955, according to Schmidt-Adeney’s research. Three years later, Maracle died from a kidney disorder in 1958 at the age of 53. He was a produce truck driver living in Dallas, Texas,  at that time.

“It’s interesting that it all happened at the same time,” Schmidt-Adeney said of Maracle becoming a U.S. and relinquishing his Mohawk ties. “What happened? Why did he give up his status? I don’t know.”

So how did history bypass Maracle?

Schmidt-Adeney doesn’t think it was a deliberate slight. She surmises that it was, in part, a result of a dark period of Canada’s history when First Nations youth were sent to residential schools – church-run, government-funded institutions that were established to “aggressively assimilate” students to white Canadian culture.

The schools were unpleasant places where abuse – physical, mental, and sexual – occurred. Residential schools first opened in the 19th Century and the last one closed in 1996.

About 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Metis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend the schools, CBC News reported in 2008.

“People didn’t say they had young children because they didn’t want them taken away,” Schmidt-Adeney told me. “There was that whole issue and there were other issues at that time that Maracle was born that would make him harder to find.”

“It was 100 years ago, we didn’t have the Internet, we didn’t have communication,” she added. “Not only did we not have communication, we had a government that was taking children away. So it’s completely understandable that this information (about Maracle) didn’t come out.”

Also contributing to the mystery of Maracle is the fact that he grew estranged from his family some time after 1939. Schmidt-Adeney said she hopes to learn more from a Maracle descendant who she recently found.

“I reached out to her via email, but no response (yet),” Schmidt-Adeney told me.

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Items of unsung First Nations women’s hockey star go to Hockey Hall of Fame

24 Tuesday Apr 2018

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Bev Beaver was one of Canada’s best women’s hockey players, and perhaps one of the country’s least-known. The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is out to change that.

The Hall  plans to display hockey jerseys and patches from Beaver, a Mohawk from Southern Ontario’s Six Nations Reserve who played competitive hockey for over four decades, in its diversity exhibit.

Her hockey artifacts will join a hockey stick used by Brigette Lacquette, a defenseman who made history at the 2018 Winter Olympics as the first First Nations woman to play on Canada’s hockey team, in the Hall.

“I thought it was really great that they asked for some of my things,” Beaver, 70, said of Hall of Fame officials. “But sometimes I have mixed feelings. Sometimes I think I wasn’t really that good, but some people tell me I was.”

Hockey jerseys and patches from Bev Beaver will become part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s diversity exhibit (Photo/Phil Pritchard/HHOF).

Angela James, the first black woman and second black player behind Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr to be enshrined in the Hall, said Beaver should have no doubts.

“Bev Beaver was great, she was a very good hockey player,” said James, who competed against Beaver toward the end of Beaver’s career in the old Central Ontario Women’s HockeyLeague, which was Eastern Canada’s top league for female players. “She had skill, she knew how to play the game.”

M. Ann Hall, a University of Alberta emeritus professor who has written extensively about Canadian women in sports, said Beaver was “a real pioneer,” a multi-sport athlete who probably could have been an Olympian if women had the opportunity to play hockey in the Winter Games during her heyday.

Beaver began playing competitive hockey in 1963 with the Six Nations Indian GirlsHockey Club and ended her career – sort of – in the early 1990s with the Brantford Lady Blues.

She “retired” but couldn’t stay away from the ice. She continued to play for senior and recreational women’s teams into her fifties. Women’s hockey didn’t become an Olympic sport until 1998, long after Beaver finally hung up her skates.

“It’s too bad they didn’t have it (Olympics women’s hockey) when I was still playing,” Beaver said. “I figure I would be able to play, I would make the team I had enough talent to make the team.”

But would she have gotten a fair shot, given the racial attitudes of the times?

“She’s on a reserve, for her ability to move off and play, there’s discrimination, racism, all kinds of things she would be having to deal with,” Hallsaid.

Center Bev Beaver played competitive hockey into her fifties, winning championships, scoring titles and MVP awards (Photo/HHOF).

Beaver won a bevy of scoring titles – she was the COWHL’s leading scorer in 1967 and 1972 and the league’s second-best scorer from 1969 to 1971 – and powered her clubs to numerous league and tournament crowns. She also collected five most valuable player awards along the way.

She had to overcome sexism to play the game that she still loves and watches regularly (she’s a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan). When she was young, Beaver used to disguise herself as a boy in order to play pick up or shinny hockey on the frozen ponds at the Six Nation reserve.

“I would just wear a ball cap or a toque or whatever,” Beaver recalled. “If they asked what my name was, I’d say ‘Billy’ for some reason.”

When puberty ensued, “I would tape my breasts so they couldn’t tell,” Beaver told the authors of “Playing it Forward: 50 Years of Women and Sport in Canada.”

Once her identity was revealed, Beaver joined a bantam boys hockey team at 13 and became its star player. But she was only allowed to play in exhibition games because girls weren’t allowed to play in league contests.

Beaver’s athletic prowess wasn’t limited to hockey. In the summer, she was a top fastball (softball) player for the Oshweken Mohawks, winning eight MVP awards and other accolades for a career on the diamond that spanned from 1961 to 1994.

“I played both sports for 35 years or more,” Beaver said. “I was fortunate enough to play both sports that I really enjoyed.

In addition to hockey, Bev Beaver was one of Canada’s best fast pitch softball players for over 30 years (Photo/HHOF).

She won a regional Tom Longboat Award in 1967 and a national Longboat award in 1980. The awards are presented to Canada’s top aboriginal athletes.

“She was one of the first indigenous women to be identified in Canada as one of the most outstanding athletes in the county because the award didn’t make a distinction between men and women at the time, said Janice Forsyth, director of the First Nations Studies Program at Western University in London, Ontario. “She was identified as the top athlete, period.”

Beaver’s fastball career also earned her induction in the Brantfort and Area Sports Hall of Recognitionin 1995.

She joined former National Hockey League players Wayne Gretzky, Keith Jones, and Doug Risebrough and  former NHL coach and general  manager John Muckler in the Brantford Hall.

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Call for Willie O’Ree’s entry into Hockey Hall of Fame reaches U.S. Congress

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

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The call for Willie O’Ree’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame reached the U.S. Congress Tuesday.

Rep. Michael Quigley, a Democrat from Chicago, took to the floor of the House of Representatives and said that “there are few players worthier to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and it is long overdue that Willie be added to that list.”

Quigley referred to O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s first black player, as “the ‘Jackie Robinson’ of hockey” who overcame “racial slurs…and blindness in his right eye” to become “a trusted champion for diversity, a proponent of inclusion, and an inspiration for so many young players both on and off the ice.”

“Each February we celebrate Black History Month as well as ‘Hockey is for Everyone Month,‘ and no one embodies both of  those tributes as profoundly as living legend Willie O’Ree,” Quigley said on the House floor. “I thank him for his continued effort to increase access for all people of all backgrounds to get out on the ice and play the greatest game” in the world.

Quigley, a co-chair of the bipartisan  Congressional Hockey Caucus, has seen O’Ree’s impact up close. The congressman has watched O’Ree school kids hockey and life skills during visits to programs like Chicago’s Hockey on Your Block and Washington, D.C.’s, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, the nation’s oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program.

His House speech adds to the effort to persuade member’s the Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee to induct O’Ree, who became the NHL’s first black player on Jan. 18, 1958 when his Boston Bruins faced the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

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O’Ree, a forward, didn’t have a long NHL career – only 45 games over two seasons with 4 goals and 10 assists.

However, advocates are pushing for O’Ree’s Hall entry in the Builders category, focusing on his contributions as a mentor, role model, and advocate in growing hockey in communities previously overlooked by the sport.

According to the Hall,  the criteria for entry as a Builder is “Coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general.”

O’Ree fits those qualifications, supports say, because he has been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and hockey fans of color.

He has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1998, traveling across the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

O’Ree is also a revered figure to many of the NHL’s players, who seek him out for guidance and advice.

If admitted to the Hall, O’Ree would join the likes of Scotty Bowman, who won eight Stanley Cups coaching for the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins; Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs;  legendary manager Conn Smythe;  and 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey Coach Herb Brooks.

The Hall’s Selection Committee is gearing up its decision-making process for the 2018 induction class.

Committee members have until April 15 to submit names of those who they think should be in the Hall of Fame. Those nominees will be debated and voted on during an Elections Meeting in June. The annual Hall of Fame induction occurs in November.

Individuals can weigh in on who they think should be nominated for the Hall in the Builders, Players and Referees/Linesmen categories through a process called public submissions.

The public submissions deadline is March 15. Here is a link on how the process works and you can make a submission.

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Momentum builds for Willie O’Ree Hockey Hall of Fame induction as deadlines loom

01 Thursday Mar 2018

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For those who want to see Willie O’Ree in the Hockey Hall of  Fame, it’s time to put our money where our mouths are.

The Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee – the gatekeepers who decide who’s in and who’s not – is ramping up its decision-making process for the Hall Class of 2018.

Willie O’Ree made history when he entered the NHL with the Boston Bruins in 1958.

Selection Committee members have until April 15 to submit names of who they think are Hall-worthy. Those nominees are debated and voted on during an Elections Meeting in June. The annual Hall induction takes place in November.

While the Selection Committee has the most say in this process, there is an outlet for public input.

Its called the public submissions and it allows people to submit who they think are worthy of Hall entry in the Player, Referee/Linesman and Builder categories.

The deadline for public submissions is March 15, so time is of the essence. Here is a link to how the process works and how you can make a submission.

It doesn’t guarantee that O’Ree will be nominated, but it lets Selection Committee members know that there’s heavy of support to let the National Hockey League’s first black player into the the hockey shrine.

From hockey fans to players to hockey analysts, there are plenty of folks out there who want to see O’Ree in the Hall of Fame in the Builder’s category.

Change.org has a petition calling for O’Ree’s Hall induction for his “significant contributions to the game as a pioneer of the sport.”

Thirteen members city government of Fredericton, New Brunswick – O’Ree’s home town in Canada – sent a letter to the Hockey Hall of Fame urging O’Ree’s induction. Fredericton Member of Parliament Matt DeCourcey added his voice with a floor speech last month in the House of Commons.

“A member of the New Brunswick Hall of Fame (and ) the Order of Canada, there remains but one honor to be bestowed this person who left such an indelible mark on this sport,” DeCourcey said.  “Mr. Speaker, for his dedication as a builder, I am sure Frederictonians, New Brunswickers, Canadians and hockey fans around the world share the view that it is past time that Willie O’Ree be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

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Karl Subban – the father of Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban, and Los Angeles Kings defensive prospect Jordan Subban – is sending a submission letter through an O’Ree Hall induction effort launched by Fredericton residents.

“He changed the game and he changed society and he changed minds,” Karl Subban wrote. “He changed hockey, which is now for everyone. Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right.”

Damon Kwame Mason, director of the award-winning “Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future” black hockey history documentary, is also pushing for O’Ree’s induction.

So are several major hockey writers and analysts.

The criteria for entry in the Hall of Fame as a Builder is “Coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general.”

O’Ree fits this category because he has helped change the face of the game, not just by for becoming the first black man to play in the NHL when he took to the old Montreal Forum ice on Jan. 18, 1958 as a forward for the Boston Bruins – but he’s done since.

He has been an inspiration to a generation of young hockey players and fans of color. They look at this still-fit 82-year-old man, learn about the racial abuse he suffered in order to make it to the pros, and how he played in the NHL and minor leagues despite being blind in his right eye, and say “if he can do it, so can I.”

O’Ree has worked tirelessly as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador since 1998, crisscrossing the United States and Canada to visit youth hockey programs affiliated with the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

His impact goes beyond getting more kids of color to lace on skates and grab sticks. O’Ree has also been a father figure, sounding board and role model for many of the minority players in the NHL today.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds recently said “Willie is not only a hero to me in hockey, but a hero in life.”

Pittsburgh Penguins tough guy forward Ryan Reaves vowed to have a big game  in honor of O’Ree, who was in the house last month for the Pens-Kings game at PPG Paints Arena.

Not known as a scorer, Reaves had a goal that night.

“Obviously with Willie O’Ree in the house it was pretty special,” Reaves told reporters. “He was a pioneer for players like me and it was nice to get him one.”

Reaves added: “That is somebody you look up to. He was big in the NHL, big in all sports for players like me.”

This years marks the 60th anniversary of Willie O’Ree making hockey history. Will the Hockey Hall of Fame make history this year and let Willie O’Ree in?

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