TheColorOfHockey

~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color

TheColorOfHockey

Tag Archives: San Diego Gulls

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

18 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Boston Bruins, Hockey Hall of Fame, Hockey is for Everyone, Montreal Canadiens, San Diego Gulls, Willie O'Ree

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.

Comin’ at ya 👊 #LetsGoGulls pic.twitter.com/70E5eqaUkB

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) November 17, 2018

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.

The @SDGullsAHL held Willie O'Ree Night complete with a special pregame ceremony, throwback jerseys and bobbleheads to celebrate his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. https://t.co/oOglWi4SW9

— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) November 17, 2018

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.”

Game day! We honor Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O'Ree tonight with an on-ice ceremony, some sweet throwback threads, and a bobblehead giveaway 🙌

🎟→ https://t.co/bAAkOzq0sw
📝→ https://t.co/WvOGprS1E7 pic.twitter.com/IUG4P98fz9

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) November 16, 2018

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sudarshan Maharaj named Anaheim Ducks’ new goaltending coach

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Anaheim Ducks, Bruce Boudreau, John Gibson, Minnesota Wild, San Diego Gulls, Sudarshan Maharaj

Anaheim Ducks' new goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj.

Anaheim Ducks’ new goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj.

Sudarshan Maharaj, whose passion for hockey began when an NHL player who would later become his boss tossed him a puck at a game decades ago, is the new goalie coach for the Anaheim Ducks.

The team tapped Maharaj to replace former NHL netminder Dwayne Roloson, who stepped down from the coaching job earlier this summer.

A native of Trinidad, Maharaj has been with the Ducks organization since the 2013-14 season. He served as a goaltendting consultant working primarily with the San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ American Hockey League farm team that relocated from Norfolk, Va., last season.

Under his tutelage,  Gulls goaltenders posted a 39-23-8 record, a 2.87 goals-against average, a .906 save percentage, and a spot in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs. John Gibson, one of Maharaj’s former Gulls netminders, is poised to be the Ducks top goaltender for the 2016-17 season.

Maharaj is a veteran coach. He was the New York Islanders goalie coach from 2003 to 2006 and goaltending consultant for the team from 2009 to 2012. He also helped develop that National Goaltending Training Program for Hockey Canada from 2005-07.

In a hockey playing and coaching career that spans more than three decades, Maharaj has coached Montreal Canadiens backup goalie Al Montoya and former NHLers Kevin Weekes, Rick DiPietro, Joey MacDonald, Steve Valiquette, Martin Biron, and Roloson.

Maharaj attended Toronto’s York University and was a member of its 1984-85 championship hockey team. Afterwards, he played professionally in Sweden from 1985 to 1991. He enjoyed playing in Sweden, but living there wasn’t without its racial difficulties, including having his car set ablaze.

“One of the young lads didn’t particularly like the color of my skin, me being in the town, and who I was associating with and all that,” Maharaj told me last year. “So he decided to make a bonfire that night.”

Maharaj is one of hockey’s great six degrees of separation stories. His family moved from Trinidad to Toronto when he was about six years old. He went to his first National Hockey League game at the old Maple Leafs Gardens and stood by the low glass, wide-eyed as the Toronto Maple Leafs skated through their pregame warm-up.

Sudarshan Maharaj, left, gets promoted from the Ducks organization's' goaltending consultant to the full-time goalie coach for the NHL team.

Sudarshan Maharaj, left, gets promoted from the Ducks organization’s’ goaltending consultant to the full-time goalie coach for the NHL team.

As the Leafs left the ice, a player tossed him a puck – a moment that made Maharaj realize that hockey was the game for him.The Leafs player was Bruce Boudreau who became the Ducks’ head coach in 2011-12.

As goalie consultant for the organization, Maharaj helped evaluate, train, and educate goalies for the man who triggered his love for the game decades earlier.

“I told Bruce that story,” Maharaj told me last November. “He was shocked that I remembered. I said ‘Are you crazy? That’s a life-changing moment. It was one of my greatest experiences. My very first hockey game and a Toronto Maple Leafs player dropped a puck for me.’ To this day, if I ever see a young child in the stands I’ll always throw a puck.”

Alas, “Sudsie” and “Gabby” won’t be reunited in Anaheim. The Ducks dismissed Boudreau in April after the team lost a Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 7 for the fourth straight season. He’s now head coach of the Minnesota Wild .

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Meet the Black and biracial players in NCAA women’s hockey in 2022-23
  • Asian & Pacific Islander heritage players on 2020-21 team rosters in pictures
  • Meet the Black players on NCAA women’s hockey rosters in 2020-21
  • Jaden Lindo adds new chapter to ‘Soul on Ice’ by winning hockey championship
  • Sarah Nurse seeks gold at IIHF world championship after winning Olympic silver

Archives

  • April 2023
  • May 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • April 2013
  • December 2012

Categories

  • John Tortorella
  • nhl.com
  • Uncategorized

Hockey Links

  • American Collegiate Hockey Association
  • Black Ice Book
  • Detroit Hockey Association
  • Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation
  • Fort Dupont Ice Arena
  • Hasek's Heroes
  • Hockey is for Everyone
  • Hockeyland Canada
  • Ice Hockey in Harlem
  • International Ice Hockey Federation
  • Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation
  • Kevin Weekes Online
  • NHL official website
  • NHL Uniforms
  • Ted's Take
  • The American Hockey League
  • The ECHL
  • TSN
  • USA Hockey

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d