Who was the first Black player to appear in an NHL game?

Willie O’Ree was the first Black player to appear in an NHL game.

O’Ree debuted for the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958, against the Montreal Canadiens. He played despite having lost the sight in his right eye after a junior hockey injury, a fact he kept private from the Bruins at the time.

He appeared in two NHL games during the 1957–58 season and returned for 43 games in 1960–61. Although his NHL playing career was brief, his breakthrough had lasting importance for hockey and for later generations of Black players.

O’Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 as a Builder. He is sometimes mistakenly described as the first Black NHL player to score a goal, but the more precise distinction is that he was the first to play in the league.