O'Ree finalist spotlight: Jason McCrimmon

The Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award is given to an individual who, through hockey, has positively impacted his or her community culture or society. The award honors O'Ree, the former NHL forward who became the first Black player to play in the NHL on Jan. 18, 1958, and has spent more than two decades as the NHL's diversity ambassador. The winner is determined by a fan vote, which is from April 3-16, as well as a judging panel with weighted votes from Willie O'Ree, the NHL and, for the award in Canada, representatives from Hyundai. New this year, there will be a winner from the United States and one from Canada. Today, a look at United States finalist Jason McCrimmon.

Jason McCrimmon wasn't happy when his mother enrolled him in a hockey program at Detroit's Jack Adams Memorial Arena.

"My brothers played, I hated it," McCrimmon said. "I used to cry the whole time. It was cold. I started out as a goalie. I'm standing in one spot. My feet hurt."

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McCrimmon shifted from goalie to forward and defenseman. He became a good hockey player, but still quit the sport at 16, opting to do what teenagers like to do.

Then he had an epiphany.

"My father passed away when I was 18," he said. "He was the guy that if I scored two goals would say, 'Why didn't you have three.' I had a dream when I was 20 years old. He told me to get back into the game."

The kid who used to cry in goal has grown into a hockey and community fixture in Detroit and a semifinalist for the 2023 Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award.

In 2014, McCrimmon founded Detroit Ice Dreams, a nonprofit organization that exposes boys and girls from underrepresented communities to skating and hockey by making them accessible and more affordable.

"Just to be able to give back to where I came from," said McCrimmon, today president of the Detroit Ice Dreams Youth Hockey Association, "and be in a situation where more kids that look like me have access to the beautiful game of hockey and be able to play and kind of just create something that's different on their resume from most kids who come from the inner city of Detroit."

The 39-year-old Detroit native is ambassador for the Detroit Red Wings' Learn, Play, Score, a program launched in 2020 that focuses on lowering systemic barriers by providing equitable access to hockey in various forms to children across the city. It includes street hockey within the physical education curriculum for all schools from kindergarten through eighth grade.

McCrimmon is also coach and owner of the Motor City Gamblers of the United States Premier Hockey League, where players showcase their talents for college or major junior teams.

"He's taken on something that a lot of others haven't," said Rod Braceful, a Chicago Blackhawks scout who grew up and played hockey with McCrimmon. "The No. 1 thing about Jason is the fact that, no questions asked, he just knows how much the Jack Adams Hockey Association and all these things helped him as a kid that he just said, 'Hey, I'm going to do this.' He's giving back to kids and he's introducing the games to kids. He's doing all these things that are not easy to do."

That includes away from the rink, where McCrimmon helps families deal with food insecurity and provides backpacks filled with school supplies for children in need.

"Through the game of hockey, we're able to give back to our community through food drives," he said. "We do a lot of stuff with the homeless, we've got a lot of partnerships with the schools, when we do uniforms. The game of hockey has given me a different arm to reach out into my community and help out in different ways. I'm just beyond blessed to be able to do what we're doing through the nonprofit to the Dreams program."

Hockey has been the constant in McCrimmon's life since the dream he had about his father. He played for NCAA Division III Northland College, the University of Massachusetts Boston and Suffolk University from 2004-08; 10 teams in eight minor leagues from 2008-12; and 35 games in Finland from 2010-12.

McCrimmon said he's honored and humbled to be a semifinalist for the award named after O'Ree, who became the first Black player in the NHL when he debuted for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Jan. 18, 1958. He has spoken to O'Ree, often when the two are together at the annual Willie O'Ree All-Star Weekend events for boys and girls who play in the NHL's Hockey is for Everyone affiliate programs.

"Just interacting with him and to be in a situation to actually be able to talk to him and pick his brain and just talk to a living legend," McCrimmon said. "And now to be mentioned in the same sentence as him, for me, it's just beyond an honor."

The winner from Canada will receive the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai in Canada. The Canada winner will be announced on Sportsnet during the 2023 Stanley Cup Final and the U.S. winner will be announced at the NHL Awards on June 26 in Nashville. Each winner will receive a $25,000 USD prize, and the four remaining finalists will receive $5,000, to be donated to a charity of their choice.