O'Ree is the Jackie Robinson of hockey, the first black to play in the NHL 50 years ago. The forward had a long career, most of it spent in the minor leagues. He played 45 NHL games with the Boston Bruins, registering four goals and 10 assists. O'Ree's trailblazing path helped forge the way for players such as Malhotra, who has played 565 career NHL games.

Malhotra, who scored the Jackets' winning goal last night, will see O'Ree this weekend in Columbus. O'Ree arrives in town today and will be conducting a clinic for the Columbus Ice Hockey Club, a member of the NHL's Hockey Is For Everyone diversity program. He will visit local elementary schools and host members of the youth hockey club at Saturday's game against the Calgary Flames. After the game, O'Ree and members of the Jackets will participate in an autograph session.

Malhotra, who is of East Indian and French Canadian descent, spoke recently about O'Ree's influence:

Q: Where did you meet Willie O'Ree?

A: I met him while playing in New York (with the Rangers) through different diversity task force initiatives, including Ice Hockey in Harlem.

Q: What does Willie O'Ree mean to you?

A: I think it's much along the same lines as Jackie Robinson. Being able to break the color barrier says a lot about his character. He endured a lot of taunting and racial slurs and he persevered through all of it. That speaks volumes about the man.

Q: Did you have to deal with a lot of the same stuff growing up?

A: Not as much growing up in the Greater Toronto Area because I think people are exposed to far greater diversity there. I did experience it to a certain extent when we went out of town and played in tournaments against small-town teams and some American teams that may not have been used to seeing minorities in the game.

Q: The face of the game is changing. Are we seeing more racial tolerance today?

A: I think it's 1000 percent more tolerant. I can remember in the late 1990s and early part of this decade where there were some instances that were brought to light and brought to the media's attention. Since that point, the NHL has done a good job with its diversity training. Dealing with those instances as harshly as they did has helped deter further kind of actions of that nature.

Q: Has Willie O'Ree gotten his due?

A: I think now he is getting it. (The NHL honored O'Ree twice earlier this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first game.) Jackie Robinson not only broke the color barrier, but he was such a dynamic player of that era. Willie is really getting his due now and people are realizing what an accomplishment it was and what he did back then.

treed@dispatch.com