Willie O'Ree

My hero is Willie O’Ree. He was born October 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. I chose Willie because he is a hockey player and so am I, but he is not just any hockey player, he is the hockey player who changed the game forever. He took the game from a white man’s sport to both a black and white man’s sport. A quality that O’Ree has that makes him a hero to me is his persistence.

What makes my hero a hero is he never gave up on his dream even though he was told every day he could never play in the NHL only because of the color of his skin. There was nothing that motivated him more than people telling him he could not do something because he is black. So he worked extra hard to prove everyone wrong. The hardest challenge he faced was people telling him he would never be as good as a white man.

My hero made a difference in my life when I was in third grade and went to my first Bruins game. That game Willie O’Ree was there to drop the puck. He is considered a hero because he proved the whole world wrong when he played against the Montreal Canadians on January 18, 1958. He proved that anyone could play hockey no matter the skin color, the height or the circumstance. He also was partially blind in his left eye after being hit with a puck in the minor leagues.

Willie O’Ree has proved the whole world wrong after all the people saying he could never do it but he did. This makes him a hero in my mind because he never gave up on his dream and he made his dream come true. Although he was black and partially blind in his left eye, he made it.

Sources

• “Willie O'Ree.” Wikipedia®, the free encyclopedia. February 16, 2011. Friday, March 4, 2011

• Mike, Walsh. Soul on Ice, The Willie O'Ree Story. Home page. No Date. Friday March 4, 2011.

• Kevin Allen “Willie O'Ree still blazing way in NHL 50 years later.” USA Today.com January 14, 2008. March 4, 2011