Willie O'Ree: The Story of the First Black Player in the NHL

by Nicole Mortillaro

Willie O'Ree made NHL history on January 18, 1958, when he became the first Black player to take to the ice. There was a round of applause when O'Ree stepped onto the ice, and newspapers ran the story. The color barrier in the NHL had been broken, yet it would be sixteen years before the next Black player, Mike Marson, was drafted. Four decades later, the NHL made O'Ree an ambassador for the NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" program to encourage kids from all backgrounds to play hockey.

This book traces the early life of O'Ree, his journey in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, and his work encouraging diversity in hockey.

Genres: Sports

120 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

NICOLE MORTILLARO is a sports editor and writer from Toronto.

Reviews

[Parastoo Hosseini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book and will recommend to everyone because not only it is fun and easy to read but it portrays an underlying issue of racism and prejudice that had been applied to multiple aspects of society in the past even when slavery was banned by British, Canada , and U.S in order to “equalize all races” promoting the idea that no race is better or less than others. I think that Willie's story is a heroic act of perseverance, courage and passion for the game of hockey and abolishment of color and race barrier as he battles against major injuries as well as color to make it to the NHL. For a Black man to become a professional athlete in 1958 was a major accomplishment. I like the way that he talks about dealing with the racism and not letting it consume him. This book raises awareness about the dangers of prejudice and hatred indicating the death of human compassion. In addition, it shows the impact of it on generations later as it takes a lot of opportunities away from talented individuals among the group that are discriminated, and their culture is pushed to the margins of the society. This was a good reading experience for me because the book avoids long descriptions while the author uses a lot of adjectives and adverbs to describe the atmosphere of the hockey games and the emotions of Willie. Also, the author does not use long and lengthy vocabularies which makes it easy to understand the story while it describes the “Black community’s culture and tradition” very clear. It also tells the readers that what happens to Willie after his heroic acts as it says that Willie works on behalf of the NHL(R)/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force, bringing the game to underprivileged kids across the nation which leaves the reader wondering the impact that they can make in this world.

[Hans Ostrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, crisp biography of the first Black man to play in the National Hockey League. More like an extended essay, but that's just fine.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie O'Ree was a typical Canadian boy - he loved hockey almost more than anything else. He played every chance he could. But there was one thing different about him - he was black. He never thought this would stand in his way so he followed his dreams and played professional hockey. He ended up being the first black player in the NHL, though others played in other leagues with him prior to his NHL debut. Life on the road wasn't easy for him as various cities rolled out the unwelcome mat for him. He bore their taunts and slurs well and continued to play the sport he loved. He even suffered an eye injury that he kept secret for many years and which he didn't let interfere with his playing. In fact, Willie O'Ree didn't let anything interfere with his hockey dreams!
This chapter book biography will inspire young athletes of all races as they learn about an important part of history.

[Thano R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The things that I enjoyed were how he never gave up even though everybody told him he couldn't do it. I also enjoyed how he played more than one sport and it introduced other people like Jackie Robertson. The things that I didn't enjoy about this book is that in some parts nothing is happening.
Willie O'ree was a great player and I think that he changed the world by breaking down the White-black barrier.

[Jessicadebiasio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very inspiring for many young hockey players. Willie O'Ree always thought that he could play hockey and in fact he can and a lot of struggles came up though his career. I do wish that this book was longer but at the same time it was just long enough to explain all the important events in his life. Overall this book was better than I thought I am not a hockey player but I still enjoyed the book.

[Jamantea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very inspirational book. Willie O'Ree overcame so many challenges such as racism and being blind in one eye. Every few chapters when something negative happened I kept asking myself "Will he quit this time?" And every single time I was wrong. Overall I think that although I found this book very inspirational I wish that it had shown a bit more insight on his life off the ice.