P.O. Joseph surprises kids at the Willie O’Ree Academy

Surprise!

That’s what was on the agenda last week for Penguins defenseman P.O. Joseph when he dropped in on the Willie O’Ree Academy.

The academy is a nine-week program that brings together Black youth hockey who are part of the Pittsburgh Amateur Hockey League and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League.

P.O. Joseph took time to answer some of the kids questions, some of them centered around what it was like growing up as a Black hockey player.

“You know it’s going to come here and there on the ice, off the ice, at school…in the rink, watching games and all…but we really just surrounded ourselves with great people that didn’t care about our skin color,” P.