http://www.hockeystars.com/blog-tags/history The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en-US http://www.hockeystars.com/blog/history/willie-oree-first-black-man-play-nhl <p>Willie O'Ree started playing hockey in his backyard at the age of 5 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He was a 22 wing man playing for the Quebec Aces when he got the call to play for the Bruins in game against the Montreal Canadiens. O'Ree didn't tell them that he was 95% blind in his right eye - a fact that might have hampered his chances of being recruited. So on the night of Jan. 18, 1958, he turned pro donning jersey #22 on ice at the Montreal Forum, and earned the distinction of being the first black man to play a game in the NHL. He went on to play a total of 45 games with the Bruins, and countless more for the AHL, EPHL, QHL and WHL - where he played for 14 years. </p> <img src='files/OreeBos.jpg'/><p><a href="http://www.hockeystars.com/blog/history/willie-oree-first-black-man-play-nhl">read more</a></p> history Centre Ice http://www.hockeystars.com/blog/history/willie-oree-first-black-man-play-nhl#comments Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:29:52 -0800 The HockeyStars Team 3641 at http://www.hockeystars.com