A statue of Fredericton’s Willie O’Ree, who was the primary Black participant within the NHL, is now part of the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
The Smithsonian Establishment museum, positioned in Washington, D.C., unveiled a brand new exhibition case this week devoted to hockey.
The case is a part of the “Sports activities: Leveling the Enjoying Discipline” gallery, and highlights hockey’s early historical past and Black athletes’ contributions.
Hometown of Willie O’Ree to position skate of NHL participant who broke the color barrier on show
O’Ree was born in Fredericton and started his hockey profession on the age of 15 with the Fredericton Falcons within the New Brunswick Novice Hockey Affiliation.
He turned the primary Black participant within the NHL when the Boston Bruins known as him up from the minor leagues to play in opposition to the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 18, 1958.
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The hockey icon went on to play 45 video games over two seasons.
He was inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2018 and Canada’s Sports activities Corridor of Fame in 2020.
“Nevertheless, even after the primary Black participant joined the sport in 1958, the presence of Black hockey gamers within the NHL has been sluggish to extend, reaching a report excessive of 28 gamers within the 2017–18 season,” the museum notes in a information launch.
Along with the statue, the exhibit showcases a number of objects from the Black hockey league in Nova Scotia, often known as the CHL.
Among the many artifacts is a newspaper article from the Acadian Recorder “issuing a discover of an accepted problem from the Halifax Eurekas to the Africville Seasides’—each groups within the CHL—to play for the title Jan. 28, 1904.”
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