Legendary Willie O'Ree and the Stanley Cup Visit Campus

In joint celebration of Black History Month and Hockey Weekend Across America, Cranbrook Schools welcomed retired professional ice hockey player Willie O’Ree to campus today. O’Ree is known for breaking the color barrier in the NHL 50 years ago on January 18, 1958 when he stepped on to the ice for the Boston Bruins. As the first black player in the NHL, he paved the way for future players of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

O’Ree grew up in eastern Canada and was the youngest of 13 children. By 14, he had excelled in both baseball and hockey, but knew that it was hockey he wanted to pursue professionally. By age 17 he was playing in the Junior League.

While playing in Ontario, a hockey puck hit him in the cheek, blinding his right eye. Although his surgeon told him he would never play hockey again, O’Ree had “a burning desire” to play and got back on the ice. No one in the league knew that he had permanently lost his vision in the eye. In fact, it was reported that he had experienced a full recovery.

O’Ree went on to play 45 games with the Bruins from 1958-61. His long professional career spanned 21 seasons, mostly in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Los Angeles Blades and the San Diego Gulls. He has received numerous awards and honors, and in January 2008, the City Council of Fredericton, New Brunswick, named their new hockey arena after O’Ree.

Currently he is the National Hockey Leagues’s Director of Youth Development and hockey ambassador for the NHL. As Director of Youth Development, O’Ree has helped the NHL Diversity Program expose more than 40,000 children to hockey through the establishment of 39 local grassroots hockey programs, all geared towards serving economically disadvantaged youth.

Today, O’Ree began his visit as a guest at the Middle School boys’ assembly. “Sometimes you have to do the impossible thing,” he told them. “There’s no disgrace in failing; the disgrace is not trying. And if you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you’re right.”

While advocating strongly that hockey is for everyone, O’Ree also stressed the importance of essential life skills, education, and the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance, and teamwork.

After O’Ree spoke to the boys, a special surprise was in store for them. Mike Bolt, the official Keeper of the Stanley Cup, displayed the Stanley Cup to the students and gave a bit of the Cup’s history.

O’Ree and the Cup spent the rest of the morning making their way across campus. After a tour of the Wallace Ice Arena from Arena Manager and Varsity Boys Hockey coach Andy Weidenbach, O’Ree greeted Upper School students in the Cranbrook Dining Hall during lunch. With Stanley on display, students and faculty alike were delighted with the unexpected visitors.

“It was inspiring to meet Mr. O’Ree,” said Peter Baumhart, CK ’08, who plays on Cranbrook’s hockey team, “not only because of what he has done for the sport of hockey, but also for what he continues to do today working with young players.”

O’Ree plans to continue his work as Director of Youth Development for the NHL and hopes to start more programs in the coming years.

To listen to O'Ree's speech to the Middle School for Boys, click here.

For more information on Willie O’Ree, please click here.