It was an incendiary piece of writing on the sport of hockey. A former NHL player describing the “racism, misogyny, bullying and homophobia that permeates the culture of hockey.”
The reaction? Well, lots from hockey fans and people on social media.
And almost nothing from the NHL or its biggest stars. A silent shrug.
It’s not like Akim Aliu is unknown to the biggest names in the sport. Everyone knows he was the one who brought down Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters last fall.
Based on this week, however, you’d be forgiven if you were under the impression that for the NHL’s most significant players, the Peters firing closed the book on the issue.
Aliu is making it clear that the book is anything but closed for him.
In a piece written in The Players Tribune, Aliu ripped the bandages off some of hockey’s festering wounds that he believes simply are not being addressed in the wake of his controversial accusations of being racially abused by Peters.
Aliu talked about the “hundreds who look different and whose ‘quirks’ are looked down on by their coaches because they aren’t white. They get told to cut the crap or get lost. So they get lost. And that’s what happened to me.”
The title of his piece was “Hockey is Not for Everyone,” a devastating counterpoint to the NHL’s campaign of “Hockey is For Everyone” from a player who experienced ugly racism in minor hockey, junior hockey and professional hockey.
The question is, where is the outpouring of support for Aliu? Where is the “hockey family” to embrace him and take up his cause?
He’s not an NHLer anymore, having last played for the Flames in the 2012-13 season. Last year, he played a handful of games in the Czech league. Still, he was a high first-round pick, made it to the NHL and was praised for having the courage to step forward and tell his story as it related to his treatment by Peters while in the minor leagues in 2009.
Why has his Players Tribune piece, published May 19, generated mostly silence?
Only a few NHL players have voiced their support on social media, including Stephen Johns of the Dallas Stars and Anaheim goalie Ryan Miller.
Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks, also an African-American player, had the strongest words of support for Aliu on Twitter.
“I hope that every single hockey player, fan, media member, GM, owner, parents and young player read(s) this. When it comes to racism, it exists in many forms with our game, not only back then but in today’s game. I’ve said this for a long time, maybe now you’ll listen,” wrote Kane.
Otherwise, it’s been pretty quiet. It’s as though by their silence, many hockey stars are demonstrating that Aliu’s concerns about the ability of the hockey culture to embrace people of difference races, genders, sexual orientation and religions are legitimate. Nobody wants to stick their neck out too far, embrace someone viewed as different, for fear of running afoul of owners and management. The message delivered to Colin Kaepernick was heard loud and clear by athletes in sports other than football.
“There is a (hockey) power structure in place to turn bright, loving kids into something they were not born to be,” wrote Aliu.
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There have been a few noteworthy incidents in recent months to make you wonder how much really has changed, or is changing. K’Andre Miller of the New York Rangers was subjected to intense racial abuse in April when his video conference call was hijacked. Earlier this month, Brendan Leipsic was cut loose by the Washington Capitals after making demeaning comments towards women on social media that were subsequently make public.
These days, hockey fans and the hockey industry are totally focused on trying to get the sport back on its feet during the current coronavirus pandemic. The timing of Aliu’s comments seems to be a shot across the bow of hockey and the NHL in particular that COVID-19 should not be a distraction from getting issues of diversity and equality to the front-burner.
After the Peters firing, Aliu met with NHL executives Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, which he said resulted in “positive” discussions he hopes with produce “tangible changes.”
“Our discussion is still ongoing, and the result of our meeting is still to be decided,” he wrote. He added “though it has handled some things fine, I believe the league has a long way to go before it can be a proper leader in the fight for equality.”
Aliu clearly wants to be an agent of change, and he’s not afraid to stir it up. In the Players Tribune piece, he accuses former NHLer Steve Downie of being a “racist sociopath” for his role in the infamous Windsor Spitfires hazing incident back in 2005.
“He had nothing but hate in his heart back then,” wrote Aliu. “(Downie) looked at me and saw a black boy with a weird accent — and didn’t like me because of it. I was attacked because of the colour of my skin. I knew it then. And I know it even more now.”
Aliu says “right now, hockey is not for everyone,” but also expresses hope that a more concerted grassroots effort to teach different attitudes in minor hockey and programs to promote diversity in NHL hiring practices could make a difference.
He’s unwilling to accept annual campaigns that speak of lofty goals but achieve little change for the “outcasts” of the game.
“People like us … are a chore to them. Something to tick off a checklist and forget about for a year,” he wrote.
Quite clearly, Aliu refuses to be forgotten. A little support from those with a lot more influence in the sport would certainly be welcome.
