Momentum is growing to see a groundbreaking maritime hockey player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It may come as a surprise to some that hockey pinoneer Willie O’Ree, 82, isn’t already a member of the hall of fame as he’s referred to as the Jackie Robinson of hockey.
Last month, O’Ree was greeted with a thunderous applause by fans in Boston to mark 60years to the day after he wrote a page in hockey history.
O'Ree made his NHL debut in a game between the Bruins and the Canadiens in 1958. It was the first time a black player had reached the highest level in hockey.
Liberal MP in Fredericton, Matt Decourcey says O'Ree's entry into the hockey hall of fame is overdue, and not just for breaking the colour barrier.
"Sixty years onward from Willie breaking the black colour barrier, it's due time that he be inducted,” he says. “For all of his contributions to the game and as a symbol of inclusion in sports and diversity and inclusion across Canada and across North America."
Ralph Thomas of the New Brunswick Black History Society describes O'Ree as a trailblazer and pioneer who maintained his dignity in the face of opposition.
"You know his personality, for what he went through, with people spitting on him and not recognizing him as an individual or even a human being, and it never shook him,” says Thomas.
The Hockey Hall of Fame has yet to respond to this new campaign to get O’Ree’s name into the hockey shrine.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
