Willie O'Ree is known as the "Jackie Robinson of hockey," and rightfully so. The groundbreaking NHL player was the pioneer that cleared a path for Jarome Iginla, PK Subban, Dustin Byfuglien and other black players to compete at the game's highest level.
The irony: Despite O'Ree's status as a pioneer, he didn't immediately realize he had broken the league's color barrier when he took the ice for the Bruins against the Canadiens in 1958. “To me, I didn’t know I was breaking the color barrier until the next morning when I read it in the paper," O'Ree told The Undefeated.