More than 60 years after breaking the NHL’s colour barrier, Willie O’Ree is the talk of the town in Fredericton.
Longtime friends and close followers of his career are putting the call out to have him inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Boston Bruins honoured O’Ree during a pre-game ceremony on Jan. 17. Since then, Frederictonians are hoping they could see O’Ree land a spot amongst other hockey greats.
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Hockey historian Ernie Fitzsimmons has been following O’Ree’s career since he was a child.
He said while O’Ree doesn’t have enough points to get inducted based on his on-ice performance alone, he said it’s the work he’s done off the ice that would make him a great addition.
“Willie’s career was very interesting, 500 goals he scored,” Fitzsimmons said.
“But where he gets it in my mind is after he left the NHL and he started the diversity program where he would go and take young children who were maybe from different backgrounds who would never be exposed to hockey.”
Fitzsimmons started researching hockey history in the early 1970s because he wanted to find out whose photos he was missing from the collection he started.
He said, unfortunately when minor pro started in 1926-1927, there were no stats up until the end of 1950. The only way he could do that was by having the final set of stats to see who played.
He said he used to go to the library at UNB to do research, which eventually led him to compile everything into his books.
“I’d recreate a set of stats and when I did that, it led to ‘Total Hockey’ where I was brought in to provide complete career records instead of just their NHL records of players, and eventually, I started researching Fredericton hockey history,” Fitzsimmons said.
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Fitzsimmons said he would be one of many who would be thrilled to see O’Ree inducted.
“I think everybody here would be so overjoyed. I mean, there’s only Gordie Drillon from Moncton in the Hall of Fame, and to have a second New Brunswick player, and to have him come from Fredericton, that would be kind of neat,” Fitzsimmons said.
Gus Mazzuca lived a few blocks away from O’Ree and said he and his brother grew up hanging out with him. He said he has kept in touch with Willie, even going to San Diego to visit.
He said one of his favourite memories was having O’Ree take him to a game in Anaheim and to the old hotel where O’Ree worked as a guard until he got the job with the NHL.
Mazzuca said he spoke with O’Ree on Sunday, following the presentation in Boston and said he was “very impressed.”
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“I think the fact that he broke the colour barrier, plus the work that he has done in all the communities, should get him elected into the Hall of Fame,” Mazzuca said. “He’s done a lot of work with all the youth in the United States, I know he’s gone all over, and up here too. When they were opening the rink or a celebration, he brought a whole truckload of hockey gear up to give to the Fredericton Minor Hockey.”
Mazzuca said he accompanied O’Ree to school visits around Fredericton a few times and said everyone was enthralled with every word O’Ree was saying.
Fitzsimmons said anyone can bring a name forward to the Hall’s selection committee, but only a member of the selection committee can make an official nomination. He says he doesn’t think getting O’Ree inducted will be an issue.
“To me, he’s as much a builder as anybody who’s done the building in the past,” Fitzsimmons said.