Ex-NHLer Akim Aliu lands book deal on his battles with racism in hockey

Glancing at the illustration of the boy with the far-off stare standing next to a bus on the cover of the graphic novel memoir that will tell his story, Akim Aliu immediately remembers the pain of growing up poor and Black in Toronto.

From the hours spent alone riding public transit to and from arenas across the city to the strips of duct tape holding together the garage sale-purchased hockey equipment bag slung over his shoulder, the depiction of a teenaged Aliu hits home.

"It's a simple cover, but tells a long, deep story of a lot of sorrow, a lot of sad days, a lot of tears, a lot of uncertainty and feeling different and, to be honest, feeling left out, feeling like you're not part of the society as it stands," said Aliu, now 32. "It's powerful, and it really hits me. And I hope people take the time to digest it, and learn a little bit more about my story."

Aimed for an audience of 8- to 12-year-olds, Aliu shares his journey of being a Nigerian-born child of mixed-race parents dealing with the difficulties of assimilating in Ukraine and Canada. It details the hazing and systemic racism he experienced pursuing his dream of playing pro hockey before eventually finding his voice in forcing the sport of hockey to confront its bias toward people of colour.

Aliu was a journeyman minor leaguer who appeared in seven NHL career games with the Calgary Flames over two seasons before he made two life-altering social media posts in November 2019.

In allegations proven to be true, Aliu revealed then-Flames coach Bill Peters bullied and directed racist slurs at him when the two were in the minors a decade earlier. Peters resigned days later, and Aliu's revelations led to the NHL instituting a personal conduct policy in a bid to