Bruins Notebook: B’s honor Willie O’Ree

Willie O’Ree played 45 NHL games in his professional career that spanned two decades, but the former Bruins’ impact on the game of hockey has far outweighed what his career stat sheet might say.

Not only did O’Ree break the NHL’s color barrier on January 18, 1958, with the Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens, he has touched thousands of young people of color in his capacity as the league’s Diversity Ambassador since the 1998. It is for those reasons that O’Ree was a natural to be inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, and on Tuesday night at the Garden, on the anniversary of his NHL debut, his No. 22 became the 12th Bruin number to be raised to the rafters.

O’Ree spoke from his home in San Diego about his experiences.

“I will never forget how my teammates accepted me as one of their own. This was a time when some of the opposing fans and players were not ready to see a Black man in the NHL,” said O’Ree. “I think of the excitement I felt on the ice. Now I think about the next generation of hockey players who are now getting ready to make their debut. I’ve always wanted to help the next generation of hockey players. When I retired from professional hockey after more than two decades, I knew I had something to give back to the sport that I love so much.”

COVID and the accompanying dangers of travel may have robbed O’Ree and Bruins’ fans a chance to savor his number retirement ceremony in-person on Tuesday night at the Garden, but the Bruins did their best to make it a special event.

On Monday, the team gathered in its video room for a Zoom chat with O’Ree.

During the call, O’Ree was presented with a certificate commemorating Tuesday as “Willie O’Ree Day.” O’Ree, who wears a fedora, was also presented with a custom-made black fedora with a gold feather by David Pastrnak, himself a chapeau aficionado.

“A nice, snazzy fedora, that was a nice touch by Pasta and the Bruins,” said coach Bruce Cassidy with a smile. “I can’t say enough good things about Willie. I always enjoy talking to him. It’s unfortunate that, in COVID times, he’s not allowed to be here in person because it’s always a great opportunity to just chat and catch up. Good for Willie. A trailblazer to say the least and I’m very happy for him and his family.”

Cassidy admires O’Ree both for the barriers he broke but also fighting through an eye injury — he was legally blind in one eye — on his extraordinary journey to the NHL.

“For us, we don’t know what he had to endure,” said Cassidy. “And to keep being resilient and play through it and find his way to the National Hockey League — including his health, he had an eye injury that no one knew about other than himself. A lot of adversity for him to go through, like a Jackie Robinson and different people who were first in line to fight through certain situations. I think our guys have a ton of respect for him. Those would be my words to him, ‘Thank you, Willie. Thank you for paving the way for a lot of young men to emulate you and look up to you. You probably gave them a goal to make it to the National Hockey League, or just be a professional hockey player or hockey player in general.’ I think everyone appreciates that.”

Matt Grzelcyk met O’Ree in 2018 for an impromptu ceremony in the B’s locker room. Grzelcyk’s father, John, has been a member of the Garden’s bull gang for decades and, through a former equipment manager, he got a hold of O’Ree’s old No. 22 sweater. Both Matt and John presented that jersey to him.

“Just getting to meet him, he’s such a nice man,” said Matt Grzelcyk. “And what he’s done for the game has meant so much, especially here in Boston. Growing up here and getting to know Willie’s story and getting to present him with that jersey was probably one of the highlights of my career.”

In another nice touch, both the Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes players all wore No. 22 jerseys for warmups before Tuesday’s game.

NHL to ease up on testing

The NHL and NHLPA announced it will stop COVID testing asymptomatic players after the All-Star break in early February.

That got a thumbs-up from Cassidy.

“All the players and all the staff are vaccinated, a lot of players are not getting the symptoms that are getting COVID. They’re recovering very quickly. So far, we’ve had no guy come back and have effects like a week later where its a risk to their health. It appears that they’re getting through it well, so I think it makes sense to do that,” said Cassidy.

Cassidy said most of his players are also boosted, though he did not have exact numbers.

Reilly enters protocol

The Bruins took two steps forward and one step back in their battle with COVID. Grzelcyk and Connor Clifton were released from protocol on Tuesday, but Mike Reilly went into COVID timeout. Reilly is the B’s fifth defenseman to test positive for the virus. Reilly, skating on a pair with Brandon Carlo, has 4-5-9 totals in 32 games and, like most of his teammates, has seen an uptick in his play since the New Year.

Habs gain a GM, Bergeron loses agent

The Montreal Canadiens’ front office has quite a Boston accent. With former Bruins’ assistant and interim GM Jeff Gorton, a Melrose native, running the show, longtime player agent and Westwood resident Kent Hughes was named the team’s general manager on Tuesday. Hughes has represented, among others, Patrice Bergeron, for many years and is a Montreal native.

“It’s very well-deserved,” said Bergeron. “I’m super-happy for him. It’s one of those things where he’s been wiht me since the beginning so sad to see him go as my agent but he’s still going to be a friend and I wish him all the best. He’s a super-smart hockey mind, loves the game and I think he was excited for the challenge. Best of luck to him. I know he’s going to be great.”

After joking that his new agent is “me, mysef, and I,” Bergeron said he’s remaining with same Quebec-based firm Quartexx.