Jeff Mcintosh/CP, via Associated Press
Akim Aliu figures he was 12 or 13 years old the first time he heard a racial slur directed toward him at a hockey rink.
“It starts really early,” he said. “With parents I had a couple of incidents where people would yell racial swears while I was playing. I was old enough to understand exactly what was being said.”
Insults would soon come from opponents and opposing fans.
“You notice really quickly that you stand out when you’re a minority player,” said Aliu, a Nigerian-Ukrainian who went on to become a second-round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007 N.