The Penguins on Thursday morning announced the launch of the Willie O'Ree Academy, a program that aims to grow the game of hockey by increasing the opportunities for Black youth players in the Pittsburgh area.
The program's name honors Willie O'Ree, the man who broke the NHL's color barrier in 1958 as the league's first Black player.
"I was so excited and thrilled that the Willie O'Ree Academy was being developed and ultimately now being launched," O'Ree said in a statement released by the Penguins on Thursday. "The Academy will continue the legacy I have worked so hard to create and maintain in this space."
Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse spoke about the initiative on the broadcast prior to Thursday's game against the Islanders. He said that addressing the lack of diversity in the NHL could be a 15-year process, because the game first has to grow at the youth levels. He consulted with Penguins hockey operations advisor Trevor Daley, who said that one of the barriers is the lack of a real community and support system at the youth level. Daley said that he remembered being the only Black kid on his team as a kid, and that one of his cousins was the only Black kid on his team.
"We have a number of diversity programs that we will be rolling out in the next few months, but this one is special because it honors Willie's legacy while creating unique growth opportunities for Black youth already playing hockey," Morehouse said in a team statement. "They're skating for amateur and high school teams throughout the region, but they don't really know each other. The academy gives them a chance to meet, get together, skate and train as a unit in the summer and, maybe most importantly, share experiences. We appreciate the fact that DICK'S Sporting Goods has stepped up again to help us in this important initiative."
The program will begin in June for boys and girls aged 10-18. It will include a nine-week training program led by UPMC Lemieux Complex staff and former NHL players like Daley. The academy will include year-round educational opportunities and "career exposure to Penguins executives, NHL front office executives and Penguins corporate partners," among other things.
Along with Daley, the Penguins consulted Kim Davis, the NHL's executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs, as well as rookie defenseman P.O Joseph.
"It's unbelievable," Joseph said about the program on Thursday. "The second I heard about it I was really pumped about it. The more people we can touch by talking about it, listening to them, having Willie coming and talking about it, it's unbelievable. Hopefully it spreads as a spider web. If we can touch one, that's our main goal. But the more the merrier."
Joseph is hoping to use his own platform to continue O'Ree's legacy.
"It started with him," he said. "He's the reason why it's so open-minded now with Black players playing in the NHL. We can't thank him enough for everything that he did for us. It just opened the windows for us to come through. If the next generations were able to look after him, I'm sure the younger generations can look after some of the people that learn from him. If it keeps growing like that, it's just going to be unbelievable."
The equipment company Bauer Hockey created custom skates honoring Willie O'Ree for a number of NHL players, which will be auctioned off with the proceeds benefitting Black Girl Hockey Club, a nonprofit organization that aims to grow the game by uniting Black women in hockey and making hockey more inclusive through scholarship funds and community learning events.
Jason Zucker donned the skates (pictured above) for the Penguins, something he said was an honor.
"Willie's done amazing things for the game of hockey," he said after Thursday's game. "He's a true pioneer of the game, and somebody that everybody in this league, and anybody that plays hockey -- whether you're Black, white, doesn't matter -- you should look up to a guy like Willie. I was lucky enough to meet Willie a couple of years ago in Vegas at the Awards show, and he's just an amazing man. He's a guy that I look up to, and he's done a lot for the game of hockey. So for me to be able to have the honor to wear those skates, it's just a minor, minor thing that I can do to show what he's done for the game. It was a true honor to wear them, honestly, and I thank him for everything that he's done for the game."