Impact On Hockey
After O'Ree's stint in the NHL, there was no other black player in the NHL until another Canadian player, Mike Marson, was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1974. There are 17 black players in the NHL as of the mid-2000s, the most prominent being Canadian Jarome Iginla (who is currently on the Calgary Flames). Art Dorrington was the first black player to sign an NHL contract, in 1950 with the New York Rangers organization, but Dorrington never played beyond the minor league level. NHL players are now required to enroll in a diversity training seminar before each season, and racially based verbal abuse is punished through suspensions and fines. While O'Ree was the first black player in the NHL, Larry Kwong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, first broke racial barriers when he played one game for the New York Rangers against the Montreal Canadiens on March 13, 1948.
Read more about this topic: Willie O'Ree
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