O'Ree set to have number retired by Bruins

Willie O'Ree remembers looking up to the rafters at Boston Garden and seeing greatness.

He'd observe the banners hung in the old barn bearing the names and numbers of Boston Bruins legends Lionel Hitchman, Dit Clapper, Milt Schmidt and Eddie Shore.
"I never dreamed of my number being retired and put up in the rafters," O'Ree said. "All I wanted to do was play and try to be the best hockey player I could be."
A banner bearing his name and the No. 22 he wore as the first Black player in the NHL will join 11 other retired numbers for the Bruins at TD Garden before Boston hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, TVAS, NESN, BSSO, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
The ceremony will be held on the 64th anniversary of O'Ree's NHL debut with the Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum in 1958. It will be streamed on NHL.com and air on NHL Network and NESN.
His banner will join those of Hitchman (No. 3. 1934), Clapper (No. 5, 1947), Shore (No. 2, 1949), Schmidt (No. 15, 1957), Bobby Orr (No. 4, 1979), Johnny Bucyk (No. 9, 1980), Phil Esposito (No. 7, 1987), Ray Bourque (No. 77, 2001), Terry O'Reilly (No. 24, 2002), Cam Neely (No. 8, 2004) and Rick Middleton (No. 16, 2018).
"It's just wonderful, I just can't keep track of the things happening to me, one after another," O'Ree said. "It's just so nice to be with family and friends and experience everything that's going on. I never dreamed when I first started playing hockey that these things would happen. All I wanted to do was play hockey and have fun, and so much has happened."
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Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said O'Ree's jersey retirement is a well-deserved honor.
"For us as an organization, it speaks volumes of the impact that Willie has had on the League and the organization, obviously, in breaking the color barrier and continuing as an ambassador, staying involved and just being a great example of so many," he said.
The Bruins had planned to retire O'Ree's jersey on Feb. 18, 2021 but rescheduled because fans would not be allowed inside TD Garden due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
Fans will be in the arena Tuesday, but O'Ree will not because, at 86, he was reluctant to travel from his San Diego home to Boston with coronavirus cases spiking.
O'Ree will watch the ceremony from his home and deliver remarks to fans attending the game.
The ceremony will be the latest in a stream of tributes to O'Ree.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 in the Builders category for his off-ice accomplishments, which helped cultivate a new generation of hockey players and fans as NHL diversity ambassador.
He helped establish 39 grassroots hockey programs in North America as part of the Hockey is for Everyone initiative and has inspired more than 120,000 boys and girls to play the sport.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., placed a life-sized bronze statue of O'Ree in its "Sports: Leveling the Playing Field" exhibit last year.
The Royal Canadian Mint produced a Willie O'Ree commemorative $20 silver coin in 2020 as part of its celebration of Black History Month.
The Bruins and NHL donated to Boston parks and recreation a refurbished street hockey rink, named Willie O'Ree Rink at Smith Field, in the Allston section of the city in 2018 in celebration of the 60th anniversary of O'Ree's first NHL game.
"Willie O'Ree is an opportunity icon," said Kim Davis, NHL senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs. "When his jersey hits the rafters, every child of every gender and race will know with hard work, perseverance and ambition, anything is possible."

O'Ree's life story and hockey journey were chronicled in the 2019 award-winning documentary "Willie," produced by former NHL executive Bryant McBride, who is a Boston-area resident.
The U.S. Congress is considering awarding O'Ree the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. If lawmakers approve, O'Ree would join a distinguished group of recipients that includes George Washington, the Wright brothers, Jackie Robinson, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
"I'm 86 years old and still some great things are happening," O'Ree said. "I've been blessed over the years with some of the wonderful things that have happened to me."
O'Ree said he imagined none of this when he jumped over the boards and into history in his first game.
His main thoughts were performing well and proving that Bruins general manager Lynn Patrick and coach Schmidt made the right choice in calling him up from the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Hockey League for the home-and-home weekend series against the Canadiens.
He also wanted to make sure that no one learned his secret: that he was legally blind in his right eye, the result of an injury sustained while playing junior hockey.
O'Ree played his two NHL seasons (1957-58, 1960-61) with Boston and scored 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 45 games. But he had a lengthy and prolific minor league career, mostly in the Western Hockey League, despite his injury.
He scored 639 points (328 goals, 311 assists) in 785 WHL games with the Los Angeles Blades and San Diego Gulls before retiring after the 1978-79 season.
O'Ree had five 30-goal seasons in the WHL and scored 38 twice: in 1964-65 with Los Angeles to lead the league, and in 1968-69 with San Diego.
CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett grew up playing hockey in San Diego and faithfully listened to Gulls games on the radio as a teenager to follow O'Ree's exploits.
"My recollection is he was a star," Garrett said. "He was one of our best players and he's by far the only player whose name still sticks with me. It was exciting when he was on the ice, it was exciting when he was announced. His name was frequently in the headlines when the Gulls won."
Though O'Ree's NHL career was brief, it was impactful. One hundred-one Black players have appeared in NHL games since his historic first shift in 1958.
Most of them, like Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds, say they owe their presence in the sport to one person.
"If it wasn't for Mr. O'Ree, I wouldn't be in the League today," Simmonds told NHL.com in 2018. "He's done so much for the sport, whether it be helping kids, Black kids, kids of every ethnicity, realize their dreams."