IN 1996, WITH THE NATIONAL Hockey League as white as ever, league executives searching for ways to increase youth participation decided to direct their efforts at minorities. The NHL's vice president of new business development, a black man from Ontario named Bryant McBride, came up with a number of ideas to make that happen. One was to bring together inner-city kids from across North America for an annual all-star game. He wanted it to be a marquee event, though, so he needed a headliner to name it after - preferably a former player, and ideally one who had contributed to hockey's diversity history. McBride sought advice from Lou Vairo, a former US Olympic coach who grew up in a Brooklyn housing project and was working for USA Hockey in Colorado Springs. Vairo had an idea. "What about Willie O'Ree?" he said. "If he's still alive."