Growing the Game: Aliu's Book, Pond Hockey and Colored Hockey League

Ian Kennedy discusses Akim Aliu's new book, a group focused on saving pond hockey and a game honoring the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes.

Growing the Game is Ian Kennedy’s weekly feature examining the global game, how social issues impact the sport, and how hockey’s important cultural shift continues to evolve. This week features Akim Aliu, "Saving Pond Hockey" and a commemorative game in Ottawa.

The global climate change crisis will impact humanity, our environment, and ecosystems in various devastating ways in the coming decades if action is not taken. One of the lesser yet still impactful ways climate change will impact our lives is the potential future absence of pond hockey.

Outdoor rinks have been a crucial component of the grassroots growth of hockey, especially for communities that cannot afford to rent indoor arenas. That’s why the "Save Pond Hockey" organization is fighting climate change for hockey through hockey.

“The climate crisis is threatening the future of outdoor hockey,” the Save Pond Hockey website reads. “Winters are already shorter and warmer. As hockey players, we see the changes happening on the ice. Together, we must take immediate #ClimateAction to #SavePondHockey for future generations.”

This week, the organization is hosting a pond hockey tournament in Helsinki, Fin., with proceeds going toward the Finnish Natural Heritage Foundation to be used to protect natural forests and wetlands.

Among the athletes competing in the tournament is five-time Stanley Cup champion Esa Tikkanen, who will play for the Liiga team. Also on the Liiga team is former NHLer Kai Nurminen and current Naisten Liiga standouts Johanna Kemppainen and Athena Locatelli. Canada’s ambassador to Finland, Jeanette Stovel, will play for the Save Pond Hockey team in the tournament. Other past NHL stars, including Saku Koivu, have also participated in Save Pond Hockey initiatives in recent weeks.

Former NHL and pro hockey player Akim Aliu, who is also the chairman and co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, had his debut book, Dreamer, released this week.

The graphic novel follows Aliu’s life, discussing issues of systemic racism in hockey and society, as well as the issues of hazing and abuse he endured as a player. Aliu, who has faced and overcome much in his life, never thought he’d be a published author.

“I can’t call this a dream come true because, growing up in Nigeria and Ukraine, I never thought this could even be a reality for me,” Aliu told The Hockey News. “Through it all, I’ve learned that anything is possible when you surround yourself with people who believe in you—the sort of people who help you to believe in yourself.”

Aliu hopes youth and adults who pick up Dreamer find inspiration, hope, and motivation from the book and take away a message to continue dreaming, no matter what.

“My message to young readers on the pub day of Dreamer is simple: dream bravely and with undaunted conviction,” said Aliu. “You are worth it.”

During Black History Month, Black History Ottawa once again hosted its seventh annual Commemorative Hockey Game on Feb. 7 to honor the history of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes.

“Black hockey history is Canadian history,” hockey historian Bob Dawson, who is involved in the event, told The Hockey News via email on Wednesday. “Sadly, it has been overlooked, ignored and even denied. Through our Commemorative Hockey Game last night at the Canadian Tire Centre, we wanted to celebrate the 128th anniversary of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes as well as educate people on the league and its creative innovations…that revolutionized the game as we know it today.”

The league, founded in 1895 in Halifax, N.S., featured a dozen teams at its peak, often drawing more than 1,000 spectators to games. Featuring historic clubs, including the Africville Sea-Sides, Dartmouth Jubilees, Halifax Eurekas, Amherst Royals, and Truro Victorias, among others, the league was known for innovation.

Not prescribed to the stringent rules of other leagues at the time, players in the CHL found new ways to compete, including the creation of the slap shot and, for the first time, seeing goaltenders drop to their knees to stop a puck. Both skills became commonplace and central to the success of hockey players for the coming century.