After years of feeling alienated by the NHL and trying to diversify the sport, Achim Aliu is looking to get another chance to play professional hockey, this time with the San Jose Sharks' minor league team. There is.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier announced to reporters Wednesday at the league's GM conference in Florida that he has offered Aliu a tryout contract with the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda for the remainder of the season. .
Aliu, a 34-year-old defenseman, confirmed his participation in the tryout in a text message to The Associated Press, saying his plane had just arrived in California.
“That's a big deal. I've always prided myself on doing things the morally right way and never wavered, even in the darkest of times,” Aliu wrote. “I am very honored to have this opportunity.”
Aliu last played professionally at the end of the 2019-20 season in the Czech top flight under coach Litvinov, where he had one goal and two assists in three games. He was born in Nigeria to mixed-race parents and then lived in Ukraine before his family settled in the Toronto suburbs, where he began playing hockey.
Allu is a journeyman minor leaguer best known for standing up against racism in the hockey world. He became famous for making two life-changing social media posts in November 2019 that led to Bill Peters' abrupt resignation as coach of the Calgary Flames.
Areu revealed that 10 years ago, when they were both minors, Peter was bullied and had racial slurs hurled at him. Peters resigned days later, and Aliu's revelations prompted the NHL to institute a personal conduct policy to stamp out racism in the traditionally white-dominated sport.
An altercation with Peters and being the target of a hazing incident while a junior hockey player led Aliu to believe that his career was hampered because NHL teams labeled him a troublemaker.
Drafted by Chicago in the second round of the 2007 draft, Aliu spent most of his 13 seasons bouncing between minor league teams. He only appeared in seven NHL games in two seasons with the Flames.
Although Allu hasn't officially retired from hockey, he co-founded the player-backed Hockey Diversity Alliance to raise awareness and make hockey more accessible to minority and underprivileged youth.
Aliu, who grew up poor, bought used equipment and took public transportation to practices and games all over Toronto.
Last year, Scholastic and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's publisher published “Akim Aliu Dreamer: Growing Up Black in the World of Hockey,” a graphic novel focused on Aliu's life.
