Class of 2018 shares plenty in common on rise to fame
TORONTO — Willie O’Ree simply wanted a chance to show what he could do.
Years later and under vastly different circumstances, the same went for Martin St. Louis and Jayna Hefford.
There was a common theme as the Hockey Hall of Fame welcomed its newest members Monday — one of opportunity.
“At the age of 14, I had set two goals for myself: play professional hockey and one day play in the National Hockey League,” O’Ree said in his speech. “All I wanted to be was a hockey player.
“All I needed was the opportunity.”
The first black player in NHL history and the third to enter the Hall, O’Ree would get that chance when he was called up by the Boston Bruins for a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 18, 1958.
“I did not know I was breaking the colour barrier,” O’Ree, now 83, continued. “That’s how focused I was on making my dream come true.”
O’Ree, St. Louis and Hefford were joined by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, all-time goalie wins and shutout leader Martin Brodeur and Soviet-era Russian star Alexander Yakushev as the Hall’s class of 2018.
St. Louis, Hefford, Brodeur and Yakushev were inducted in the players category, while O’Ree — who suited up for just 45 games in the NHL, but would return to the fold in 1996 as a goodwill ambassador — and Bettman went in as builders. Undersized and undrafted, St. Louis rocketed from castoff to Hart Trophy winner and two-time scoring champ once he got his chance with the Tampa Bay Lightning, including a Cup victory in 2003-04.
“For all the kids out there listening: follow your dreams,” St. Louis said from the podium. “Believe in yourself. When it seems like all of the doors are closing, look for a window and find a way in.”
The 5-foot-8 winger is one of just six undrafted players to reach 1,000 points and won Olympic gold with Canada in 2014.
“The reason that some people don’t reach their full potential is that they quit too soon,” St. Louis said.