La Mesan Willie O’Ree never led the National Hockey League in scoring but he dazzled a legion of fans with his speed for the original San Diego Gulls in the Western Hockey League.
Both the original Gulls (1966-74) and the WHL (1952-74) are long gone but O’Ree’s legacy lives on nearly 70 years later.
In fact, he’s become a celebrated hero.
When O’Ree stepped onto the ice against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 18, 1958, he became the first black man to play in the NHL. Like Jackie Robinson in professional baseball, O’Ree opened the door for players of color in pro hockey.
It was a trickle at first but diversity in the NHL has since exploded with players of all nationalities from around the world. Minor league hockey is no exception.
In what is believed to be a first in the American Hockey League, three black players from the Gulls combined on a goal last season in a March 28 game against the Tucson Roadrunners. The Gulls won the game 5-1 in a heated playoff race.
Justin Bailey tipped in a third period shot from defenseman Tyson Hinds, who had received a pass from teammate Noah Warren.
After the game, the three players knew they had accomplished something rare, and felt special about it.
And still do.
The feat, which reflects hockey’s growing diversity, has been accomplished three times in the NHL, all three with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010 with Evander Kane as the catalyst with two goals and an assist.
Kane and the Gulls’ history-making trio would not have had a chance to shine on the ice if it wasn’t for O’Ree, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 in the builder’s category, had his jersey formally retired by the Boston Bruins in 2022 and is set to receive the Congressional Gold Medal at the U.S. Capitol later this month.
O’Ree is the first NHL player to receive the highest honor bestowed by Congress.
The Gulls honored O’Ree’s pioneering legacy by hosting the “Night to Celebrate a Legend” on Oct. 7 at the Rooftop Cinema Club Embarcadero atop the Manchester Grand Hyatt.
The event, which was attended by all Gulls players and coaching staff, featured a panel discussion on O’Ree’s enduring impact on hockey and a film screening of “Willie,” a 2019 documentary following O’Ree’s life from his roots in New Brunswick, Canada, to his induction into the Hall of Fame.
O’Ree, of course, was the center of attention as he received a gold-plated hockey stick inscribed with his signature phrase — “If you think you can, you can, and if you think you can’t, you’re right” — he used to inspire more than 130,000 youths during more than two decades serving as an ambassador as part of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative.
Bailey, a Buffalo native, had met O’Ree on prior occasions — once as a 14-year-old at a camp hosted by Dominick Hasek for underprivileged children and then again in 2013 when he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round (52nd overall) in the NHL Draft. Now with the Gulls, the 30-year-old forward with 141 NHL games to his own credit has had a chance to interact with Mr. San Diego Hockey on a more regular basis and develop a better understanding of what O’Ree accomplished.
“It’s been a constant reminder of what someone, a lot of people, had to go through for me to get this opportunity, for kids to get this opportunity,” Bailey said. “It’s an unbelievable story. He’s been a role model for me since I was 13 or 14.”
Hinds (third round, 2021, 76th overall) and Warren (second round, 2022, 42nd overall) are both draft picks by the NHL parent Anaheim Ducks.
Besides Bailey, Gulls forward Travis Howe also participated in the panel discussion moderated by “NHL on TNT” analyst and retired NHL forward Anson Carter, a member of the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition. Retired NHL forward Jamal Mayers (219 points and 1,200 penalty minutes in 915 NH: games with five teams, primarily with the St. Louis Blues) also spoke on the panel.
Carter appeared in 674 NHL games with eight teams, including the L.A. Kings (2003-04), with 20 goals and 421 points.
Mayers appeared in 63 Stanley Cup playoff games with five goals and 13 points (and 32 PIM) while Carter appeared in 24 playoff games with eight goals and 13 points.
The gold-plated stick was presented to O’Ree by Carter, Mayers, Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane and Gulls President of Business Operations Matt Savant courtesy of the San Diego Gulls Foundation.
Coincidently, the AHL is celebrating its 90th anniversary this season and the Gulls head into Saturday’s home opener at Pechanga Arena with a 1-0 record following last Friday’s 5-0 shutout win in Coachella Valley.
Hot on ice
Goaltender Ville Husso stopped all 26 shots he faced to earn the season-opening shutout. Ryan Carpenter scored the first goal of the Gulls’ new season in the opening period. Matthew Phillips posted a multi-point game (one goal, one assist) as did linemate Sasha Pastujov. Roland McKeown and Jan Mysak both earned two assists while Tim Washe collected his first career AHL goal in his AHL debut and Judd Caulfield netted his first goal of the season. Nico Myatovic, Warren, Stian Solberg and Travis Howe each picked up their first assists of the season.
Husso recorded his 16th career AHL shutout to rank second among active AHL netminders while Phillips ranks seventh among AHL skaters with 301 points (125 goals, 176 assists) since entering the league full-time in 2018-19.
Pastujov paced the Gulls last season with 1.05 points per game (45 points in 43 games).
“We came in late, but guys were ready to play right away,” Husso said. “And I don’t think there was too many shots in the first two periods, and it was fun to watch. Guys were right on. They were skating, they were battling. Their goalie played well in the first period. Kept it 0-0 for a long time. But we just kept grinding. And at the end of the day, we got the win, which is the most important for us.
“It’s great start for sure, get the win right away, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us, and just got to keep building from that. And like I said, guys did great, really good job today. Just got to keep building and get better. That’s the bottom line. And it’s a long, long season, and we’ll take the first win.
“Great group of guys, great older guys, great young guys. Everybody plays for the team. It’s fun, and those little blocked shots and stuff like that, they go a long way. Like (Yegor Sidorov) in this third period took a slapper in the knee, but those are things that builds the team at the same time. It’s like I said, big win for us and I feel like everything went well for us (in the game).”
McIlvane felt the game’s outcome was a reflection of the team’s work ethic.
“Put a lot of work in the last little bit, and for the guys to go and be able to feel a reward like that, and see the work pay off, it’s a great feeling.,” the Gulls bench boss said. “There were a lot of good elements in the game. The team discipline was really strong.
“We’ve got a good group of people, and we’ve got guys that are all feeling like they’re taking the next steps in their careers. We’ve got some great pieces around. It was one really good game, and we’ll look to keep building on this.
“Jan and Sasha have chemistry, and we knew that last year. Then you add a guy like Matthew Phillips, who’s potentially the most dynamic of the group, and they just found something right away. It didn’t take long for that to gel, and I can’t wait to see that keep building.
“I think Ville would be the first one to say that there was a lot of great team defense that went on in front of him. Guys were blocking shots, five nothing, Sidorov eating the puck, but Ville really was awesome. When we needed them, there was an early break and some point-blank post to post saves that he made that were just phenomenal. If you got that kind of stability in the net, it really helps.”
Saturday’s game faces off at 6 p.m.
“Ready to rest a little bit and then we’ll be excited for our work,” McIlvane said. “The pinnacle of the week, being able to have the home opener is something that we’ll be looking forward to. I know the building will be rocking.”
Red and Black
SDSU men’s hockey coach Dean Wilson’s spin on this season’s Aztec squad is that progress is being made.
“We’re getting positive performances each game — 20 minutes or 40 minutes — but we need to put it together for a full 60 minutes,” Wilson said following 7-0 and 6-1 losses to the University of Arizona Wildcats Oct. 10-11 at the Kroc Center Ice Arena.
“We’ve got to get the lead and hold onto it. You can see the progression. I’ve been putting in all these young guys just to see what they can do and I’m getting more than I expected.”
Indeed, he is following last weekend’s 11-1 and 5-4 (in overtime) setbacks at Arizona State.
The Aztecs rebounded from the double-digit loss as Eastlake alum Braden Mayer notched the game-tying goal with 10:51 remaining in the third period. The Sun Devils won it at 2:00 of the extra period, though SDSU tied the game twice in the first period and once each in the next two periods.
It was the most goals scored by the Aztecs in a game this season. Cameron Ferraz led SDSU with a goal and assist while Patrick Fast and Logan Okanski also scored goals, captain Ryan Elleraas chipped in with two assists and Mason Brown, Jake Abenojar and Zachary Stroozas each collected one helper in support of goaltenders Brody Hsiao (39 saves) and Liam Dee (28 saves)
ASU out-shot the SoCal visitors 71-31 in the series opener and 67-31 in the rematch.
