Ranking the top 5 greatest black NHL players of all-time

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Willie Eldon O’Ree (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images) /

To celebrate Juneteenth, let’s take a look at the best five black players in NHL history.

Ever since Willie O’Ree first stepped on the ice for the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958, black players have been an important part of the NHL. Yes, hockey is a predominantly white sport. However, there have been some extremely special black players over the years.

In honor of Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, let’s take a look at the five best black players in NHL history.

But first, let’s take a deeper look at the pioneer himself, Willie O’Ree. O’Ree overcame a lot of obstacles to become the first black player to play in the NHL. First of all, he overcame his skin color.

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Back in the 1950s, blacks faced discrimination in every step of their lives. Hockey was no different. There’s a reason it took until 1958 for the NHL to have a black player and it took until 1974 for the second black player to join the league.

Secondly, O’Ree overcame bad eyesight. In 1956, he took an errant puck to the face, which significantly limited the vision in his right eye. O’Ree wouldn’t have been allowed to play in the NHL if he let anyone. Instead, he played through it and didn’t tell anyone. More impressively, O’Ree played well enough that nobody noticed.

Even after his career ended, it took O’Ree until 2018 to finally get into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He serves as an ambassador to hockey and it’s hard to find a better ambassador than Mr. O’Ree. O’Ree has been given many honors, including the Congressional Gold Medal in 2018 and being inducted into the Order of Canada in 2008.

It’s embarrassing it took O’Ree so long to get all of the honors that he has, but he deserves every single one of them.

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