Daniel Ebrahim is one of 161 hockey players from Ontario on the NCAA path, and he’s being a role model as he improves his game.
A large part of the journey for every young, skilled hockey player is similar: play well enough in your hometown, and soon, you’ll leave your hometown to play in an elite league.
That trip was true for 22-year-old winger Daniel Ebrahim. The Whitby, Ont. native stood out playing for the nearby Ajax Pickering Raiders of the Eastern AAA League and the Pickering Panthers and Whitby Fury of the Ontario Junior League.
But while many promising Canadian hockey players take the CHL route, Ebrahim is one of 161 players from Ontario who chose the collegiate route, including a top prospect for the 2023 NHL draft in Adam Fantilli. That's the most of any province, according to College Hockey Inc.
Despite being drafted by the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2018, Ebrahim chose to hone his craft in the USA, moving to New Jersey to play for the Jersey Hitmen of the National Collegiate Development Conference.
That was where, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebrahim was scouted via video by the NCAA Div. I team at Sacred Heart University.
Right away, Sacred Heart coach C.J. Marottolo was impressed by what he saw.
“Just an explosive, explosive player,” Marottolo told The Hockey News in mid-December. “He’s just a young man that really loves hockey, and wants to be as good as he can be. He handles himself well on and off the ice, and he’s a great example in our community.”
In the 2020-21 season, his first at the NCAA level, Ebrahim struggled to contribute on offense. He played 21 games but didn’t have a point. That was something neither he nor his coach envisioned when he committed to Sacred Heart.
At six-foot and 174 pounds, he wasn’t going to be an intimidating physical force. Still, he had the instincts on offense to be a difference-maker for all the teams he’d played on before joining Sacred Heart.
For example, Ebrahim scored 49 goals and 106 points in 87 games in two seasons with the Hitmen, being an all-star in 2019-20 and leading the league in goals in 2020-21.
Clearly, he could generate offense, and that’s why he’s persevered to get to the level he’s currently at: in nine games for Sacred Heart this year, he’s got a pair of goals and four points in total.
Slowly but surely, Ebrahim is adjusting to the NCAA level and figuring out what type of player he can be.
“Contributing on offense, that’s what the coaching staff envisioned for me to do when I committed to Sacred Heart, and that’s something I believe I can do,” Ebrahim said. “But junior to college is a really big jump – obviously, it’s about getting used to the speed and hockey IQ and the lack of time and space, and that was a little bit challenging for me my first year. I really had to earn my ice, and I’ve learned how to maintain my confidence as best I can and believe I can put up offense.”
Added Marottolo: “I was a little surprised at his season last year – he didn’t score a goal, which blows my mind, because in practice, he would score. He had that offensive prowess, but it just didn’t happen for him. He was a little frustrated, of course. Finally, this year, he’s getting more confidence in his game, he’s scoring some goals, so I’m happy for him.”
It’s not uncommon to face that adversity when transitioning to a higher level of hockey. But Ebrahim said he unfortunately also had to deal with some racism directed his way as a BIPOC athlete in his early years of hockey.
“Growing up, I didn’t really see (too many) people of color playing hockey, especially on my team,” Ebrahim said. “I was the only colored kid playing on my teams most of the years. So there was a little bit of adversity with that, trying to fit in with everyone. But as the years go on, it’s definitely gotten better when it comes to racism. This year, we have a player on our team from Japan. The culture of hockey has changed for the better, for sure.”
Ebrahim is a pleasant young man who shows excellent maturity in being a role model. Any bigotry that comes his way will not pierce his mental armor. He’s determined to be the best competitor he can be, and the results are now coming.
“If anything like (racism) happens to me now, I’m not fazed by it,” Ebrahim said. “I’m here to play the game at the top level I can play at, and I don’t let things like that get to me. I had that mindset at a really young age, and it’s helped me get to where I am today.”