O’Ree inspiring youth players during his Skills Weekend in Anaheim

ANAHEIM -- Xavier Williams was all smiles as he posed with living history.

Willie O’Ree entered the suite at Honda Center Friday night during the Anaheim Ducks-Seattle Kraken game and players from the Willie O’Ree Skills Weekend flocked around the NHL’s first Black player. 

“He’s an international star,” said Xavier, a 13-year-old forward for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation & Education. “It’s fun meeting Willie.”

And it was fun for O’Ree to meet the more than two dozen players from NHL Hockey is for Everyone programs who traveled from across the United States and Canada to participate in the skills weekend at Great Park Ice & Fivepoint Arena, the Ducks’ practice facility.

“It’s very exciting, I’ll see them again tomorrow,” O’Ree said.

The 88-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer will preside over the final on-ice session for the skills weekend on Saturday. The players will also hear a panel discussion featuring J.T. Brown, a retired NHL forward who is a television analyst for the Seattle Kraken, and Blake Bolden, a former professional women’s player who is a pro scout and Growth and Inclusion specialist for the Los Angeles Kings.

But it was O’Ree who was the center of attention on Friday at the end of a busy day for the players, who competed in skills contests and scrimmaged before going to the game at Honda Center.

“He’s the first Black NHL player and very inspiring to me,” said Aubrey Lang, who plays for Mosaic Hockey Collective in Minnesota’s Twin Cities area. “It’s been an honor to be here and meet him.”

Duck goalie John Gibson, who didn’t dress for the game Friday, stopped by the suite where O’Ree and the skills players and took in the moment.

“These are special moments that capture Willie’s legacy in growing hockey in North America,” Gibson said. “These kids bring wide-eyed enthusiasm to these weekends that define what hockey is all about.”

Hockey is for Everyone was introduced in 1998 and has 26 organizations serving 8,000 participants. The programs reduce the barriers to hockey for kids from economically underserved households by providing low-cost or free opportunities for youth to play hockey.

O’Ree became the NHL’s first Black player when he debuted for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 18, 1958, at the Montreal Forum.

The Fredericton, New Brunswick, native played 45 NHL games during parts of two seasons (1957-58, 1960-61) and had 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) despite being legally blind in his right eye, the result of an injury sustained while playing junior hockey.

He was named NHL diversity ambassador in 1998 and helped establish 39 grassroots hockey programs and inspired more than 130,000 boys and girls to play the sport.

The Bruins retired O’Ree’s No. 22 on Jan. 18, 2022, during a ceremony at TD Garden. President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on Jan. 31, 2022, to award O’Ree the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Congress.