On January 16th the City of Fredericton renamed it's new ice arena complex. The Northside Sport and Leisure Centre opened only one year ago. It houses two ice surfaces, an indoor walking track, three rooms for community use, canteens operated by the Nashwaaksis Y's Men Club, the Fredericton YMCA Northside Wellness Centre, and a seasonal youth centre and indoor skateboard park. It is the finest ice arena I have ever visited. The NB Sport Spots ice arena map can be viewed here.
Yesterday it was renamed in honor of Willlie O'Ree - the first black man to play in an NHL game. The new name of the facility is "Willie O'Ree Place" or "place Willie O'Ree" en francais. I like to abbreviate the name to "WORP" when I am writing down my son's hockey schedule.
Willie O'Ree was called up to join the Boston Bruins in Montreal in a game aginst the Canadians on January 18th, 1958. Despite being nearly blind in one eye Willie played a total of 45 NHL games and he played in the minors until the age of 43. Willie grew up in Fredericton and was the youngest of 12 children. There were only two black families living in Fredericton at the time.
Check out more information on Willie O'Ree at Wikipedia.
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