Bernie was only the 5th black hockey player to play in the NHL. The others before him were Willie O\'Ree, Mike Marson, Bill Riley, and Tony McKegney.\n', '

Bernie was born in Montreal, Quebec and spent most of high school at H.S. Billings High School in Chateauguay, Quebec. The Saunders family moved from Montreal to the Toronto area his senior high school year and Bernie graduated from Ajax High School, in Ajax, Ontario.\n', '

While in Chateaguay, Bernie and John played Jr B hockey for the Chateauguay Wings under the tuteledge of Jacques Demers who would go on to coach in the WHA and NHL. When the family moved to the Toronto area, Bernie played for the Pickering Panthers in the Metro Jr B league for two years. The Panthers were a strong franchise and several of the team went on to play for the Saint Louis Billikens in the old CCHA. The Saunders brothers played college hockey at Western Michigan University in the 1970s along with future New York Rangers GM Neil Smith.\n', '

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