Canada Post has continued its relationship with the NHL Alumni by issuing a pair of stamps in a commemorative booklet featuring Willie O’Ree, the first Black player in NHL history.
The stamps went on sale at Canada Post outlets across Canada Friday. They are also available online at canadapost.ca. The three-panel booklet tells the story of O’Ree and how he joined the Boston Bruins in 1958 to break the NHL color barrier.
Featuring a recent photo of O’Ree wearing his signature fedora cap and an inset photo of him in action on the ice in 1960, the stamp was designed in black and yellow to mirror his uniform colors while playing with the Boston Bruins between 1958 and 1961.
O’Ree spent the majority of his career in the minor leagues but had two stints with the Bruins. Although he was included in the BeeHive Corn Syrup hockey photo promotion during his career, he did not get an NHL hockey card until Pinnacle included him in their resurrection of BeeHive as a hockey card brand in the 1997-98 season, exactly 40 years after O’Ree played in his first game.
Since then, there have been hundreds of cards made of O’Ree. The stamp set is not the only O’Ree collectible they sell, as there is also a Willie O’Ree limited edition silver coin available to the growing number of O’Ree collectors.
O’Ree is a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick. He began playing hockey at the age of three, when his father would buckle up double-blades to the bottom of his shoes to skate and play on the backyard rink in the winter. By the age of five, he was playing organized hockey.
“There are certain accomplishments in life that you could never even dream of – that are beyond the realm of imagination’” O’Ree stated in a Canada Post media release. “Getting a stamp in your honor is certainly one of them.”
O’Ree played in two games that year. He was called up by the Bruins from the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Hockey League. O’Ree, who lost sight in one eye after being struck by a puck in 1955, replaced Leo Labine, who was ill, in the Boston line-up. O’Ree played on the left wing, which he told sportscollectorsdaily.com in a previous interview was very difficult for him since he was blind in his right eye. Even though he was a left shot, he played right wing because it was easier for him with his vision limitations.
“In 1958, when I became the first Black player to play in an NHL game, it was the culmination of years of hard work,” O’Ree stated. “What felt like an individual accomplishment at the time has since become a moment of inspiration that sparked dreams for countless young folks in the years that followed. That was never my plan. I’m incredibly touched by the recognition I have received, and grateful to have made a difference in the lives of so many people.”
O’Ree’s first game was in Montreal, about a two-hour drive from Quebec City, where he was playing.
“I’ll never forget the day,” O’Ree recalled. “It was January 18th, a Saturday. My parents and my brother, Richard, made the drive from Fredericton to Montreal to watch the game. During warm-ups, I stepped onto the ice with butterflies in my stomach. And then the game began, and everything felt natural. On paper, it wasn’t anything special; I didn’t score a goal, I had zero assists. We won the game, 3-0. I saw my family after the game before the team boarded a train back to Boston. I was so consumed in the moment – reaching the big league, playing against my idols in front of my family – that it didn’t dawn on me at the time that I had made history.”
The next morning, O’Ree was reading the newspaper and saw a small story that he had become the first Black player to play in the NHL. He said that was when he realized that playing in that game was significant. But while Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers was a cultural-shifting moment, O’Ree’s game in Montreal was a mere footnote.
Even in Boston, it was not a big story. But looking back, it should have been. O’Ree played for the Bruins 18 months before Pumpsie Green became the first Black player for the Boston Red Sox.
“Beyond a small story in the papers, my NHL debut was hardly feted,” he stated in the Canada Post release. “The next day, I was back in Québec, playing with the Aces.”
NHL Diversity Ambassador
In a previous interview with this writer, O’Ree said it took years for his milestone to be recognized and celebrated. In the mid-1990s, the NHL approached him about being an ambassador for the league’s new diversity program. He was working as a parking lot attendant in San Diego, the city where his long minor league career ended.
“My career was over and some people knew I had broken the hockey color barrier, but I certainly wasn’t the player or had anywhere close to the impact that Jackie Robinson had,” he said. “I had never even had a rookie card until Pinnacle approached me about being in a card set and autographing cards. But after that, everything has just seemed to grow. People started paying attention and the NHL was promoting diversity and introducing hockey to the Black communities and in my position, I was helping them promote diversity in hockey. Then there were more cards and more autographs and more appearances. The NHL program introduced many young Black kids to hockey, and as that happened, more people took an interest in my story and my career.”
As a youngster in New Brunswick, O’Ree excelled in hockey and baseball. He chose to pursue hockey. Willie’s older brother, Richard, told him that he would face racism and prejudice. To make it in hockey, he would have to be better than the white players.
O’Ree never considered himself the best Black player of his era. That title belonged to Herb Carnegie, a career minor leaguer who played for the Quebec Aces among many other teams. When NHL legend Jean Beliveau played for the Aces the year before he joined the Montreal Canadiens, many considered Carnegie, not “Le Gros Bill”, the best player on the Aces and in the QHL.
“I was aware that there were not many Black players in the professional ranks,” O’Ree recalled in the Canada Post release. “There was the all-Black line, featuring Herb and Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre, who played together on various teams. Outside of that, minority representation in the sport was few and far between. I also recognized the significance of breaking barriers and recall hearing about Jackie Robinson becoming the first Black player in Major League Baseball in the modern era, a monumental achievement.”
Meeting Jackie Robinson
O’Ree recalled meeting Robinson on a trip to New York when he was just 14 years old.
“It’s a moment forever etched in my memory,” O’Ree recalled. “My baseball team back in Fredericton had won a championship and as a prize we were taken to New York City. I remember gazing up at the Empire State Building in awe, seeing Radio City Music Hall and visiting the amusement rides on Coney Island. But the highlight of the trip was watching a Dodgers game at old Ebbets Field. After the game, we were allowed onto the field. To my astonishment, there was Jackie Robinson, waiting to greet us. I shook his hand and told him that, not only do I play baseball, but I play ice hockey, too. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I didn’t know there were any Black kids who played hockey.’ ‘Yup,’ I told him, ‘there are a few of us.’”
O’Ree was humbled when he met Robinson again. O’Ree played in 45 NHL games before landing in the Western Hockey League with the Los Angeles Blades.
“In 1962, four years after my historic debut, I was invited to a luncheon in Los Angeles hosted by the NAACP to honor Jackie Robinson,” O’Ree remembered in the Canada Post release. “I arrived to the event and saw Mr. Robinson in conversation with a group of people. When he finished, my coach approached him. ‘Mr. Robinson,’ he said, ‘I’d like to introduce you to a local player, Willie O’Ree.’
“’Willie O’Ree!’ Mr. Robinson exclaimed. ‘I’ve met you before, in New York.’ I couldn’t believe my ears. It had been 13 years since our brief encounter on the baseball diamond at Ebbets Field. ‘I see you’ve found your sport,’ he said. I was speechless. I had to pick my jaw up from the floor.
“I had a similar reaction when I found out that Canada Post was going to create a stamp in my honor. It is a powerful reminder of the impact I’ve been able to have on others. To think that I have been a source of inspiration in somebody’s life just like Jackie Robinson was for me is stunning.”
While Robinson opened the door for Black players in Major League Baseball, the second Black player in the NHL would not step on the ice until 1974. Sixteen years after O’Ree played his first game, Mike Marson played for the Washington Capitals.
In the last decade, O’Ree has been inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame, received the Order of Canada, received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, and had his jersey number 22 retired by the Bruins. He now has the honor of being featured on a stamp.
“I am so thankful that my legacy will carry on with this new stamp,” he said. “When I got the call from Canada Post, I was at a loss for words. I enjoyed being involved in the process of creating the stamp. My wife, my daughter and I looked over different photos and design options before helping to select the right one. The whole process was a thrill for us all.”
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