Wayne Simmonds takes a breather while playing in his 1000th NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, on March 5, 2022.Claus Andersen/Getty Images
The first time Akim Aliu skated was in Toronto at Trinity Bellwoods Park. He was seven years old and had immigrated to Canada from Ukraine with his family. His dad came from Nigeria, his mom from Kyiv.
The Alius settled in Parkdale, an ethnically mixed neighbourhood west of downtown. The first pair of skates he wore were purchased at a garage sale.
Akim went on to play in the NHL and in June of 2020 established the Hockey Diversity Alliance to address racial issues in the sport and to help make the game more accessible and inclusive.
On Feb. 3 – that’s all-star Saturday – the organization will stage a free event beginning at 10 a.m. at Trinity Bellwoods Park. More than 700 youths from underserved communities who have received support through the alliance will play hockey and compete in a skills competition during the HDA’s inaugural WinterFest.
“This is a really exciting time for our organization,” Aliu said. “We are really trying to highlight a lot of the work and accomplishments we’ve had since our inception. People don’t really know what we do behind the scenes to actually transform and change the game of hockey.
“We are not just out there talking about issues and doing speaking engagements. We actually have boots on the ground.”
Akim Aliu waves as he is named the first star in his second NHL game after scoring two goals while playing for the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, on April 7, 2012.Mike Ridewood/Getty Images
There more than 800 youths playing hockey for free through the HDA. Equipment, ice time, coaching, transportation and meals are all provided.
“It’s not a couple-of-days program, it’s 26 weeks, for kids who would never have been able otherwise to play the game,” Aliu said. “We see kids transform from not being able to stand on skates to being able to fly around about six months later. It’s really beautiful to see.”
During the WinterFest, Aliu and other founding members of the alliance, all current and former NHL players of colour, will participate in a celebrity hockey game. Other hockey-playing guests will include former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, businessman and entrepreneur Wes Hall and Luke Wilson, a Canadian-born tight end who in 2014 won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.
The HDA is working to broaden its appeal.
“The premise of all this is to expose ourselves to people who are really not looked at as traditional hockey fans,” Aliu said. “We think we can bring folks together from different spaces and grow the game in a really meaningful way.
“We have been looked at as a confrontational organization and we feel that’s unfair. There is a difference between truth and confrontation and a lot of times people that don’t hear what they want to hear – the archaic old-boys establishment that hockey is – just deem you difficult.”
Early on the alliance took on the NHL as a partner but then split from the league out of frustration over what it saw as inaction.
The original group of founders included Wayne Simmonds, who has played several seasons for the Maple Leafs, and now enjoys being a stay-at-home dad with daughters that are 4 and 2 years old and a two-month-old son. He grew up not very well-to-do in the Toronto suburbs.
”When you go into the communities that we go into there are not many people who watch or play hockey,” said Simmonds, who has played 1,090 games in the NHL. “We do the heavy lifting for them. I fell in love with hockey when I was three and hope some of them will do the same.
“It is really important for these young kids to see someone that looks like them and will advocate for them. Everyone in our groups knows what it looks like to be overlooked or to never get looked at at all.”
Aliu concurs.
“It’s sad in a way the very few of us players of colour that played in the National Hockey League ironically experienced the same issues: not being able to afford the game; growing up in communities that really did not have a lot; and then, getting to the NHL and feeling like an outsider, having to deal with racial issues and never really feeling like you are part of that team.
“Those things combined are the inspiration for everything we doing. We want to make the path better for the next generation but I also think while doing that we can better the game if we can introduce more kids from diverse backgrounds into the game and increase the pool of talent. Ultimately that makes hockey a better place, both culturally and on the ice.”
Aliu is proud of the HDA and the influence it has had.
“I truly believe we have transformed lives,” he said. “We have parents coming up to us and thanking us for getting their kids off the street. That’s what I went through and what other members of the HDA went through. You never know where a program like this can take them. It’s a vehicle for success.”