ON THIS DAY

January 18, 1958

Willie O’Ree became the first black NHL player, debuting with the Boston Bruins. As a youth, his was one of two black families in Fredericton, N.B. O’Ree said it made no difference on the rink as a kid. He wrote, “It was only later, when I became older, that I learned what ‘colour barrier’ meant.” In 1998, he became the NHL’s director of Youth Development and ambassador for NHL Diversity. He will be formally inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

this year.