I trekked down to Etobicoke Ice Sports to watch Tavares, Sam Gagner, and a host of future NHL players win the Toronto Marlies Holiday Classic, two years before they were eligible for the OHL Draft. I went to watch John Tavares, who at the time was quickly gaining hype as a potentially generational hockey and lacrosse prospect. The second time I heard of Aliu was by accident. Though it’s impossible to project the future prospects of any player that young in any sport, he had a bright future ahead. I was a nerdy teenager who was obsessively involved on various sports message boards and Aliu had established himself as the best indoor soccer player in Ontario for our shared age group. The first time I ever heard of Aliu was in 2002. “This isn’t to the degree of (Colin) Kaepernick by any means, but if you play the race card, it’s most likely the end of your career.” It broke my heart, I think it made my career go downhill before it started,” Aliu said to Seravalli. I sat on this a really, really long time. We’re all here for due process, but hiding behind it as a form of inaction only goes to show how actors outside of hockey’s core demographic have to prove beyond what should be reasonable that they belong and their statements should be taken at face value.Īliu’s account was corroborated by two former teammates to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, and applying a cost-benefit model regarding whether Peters is worth retaining over his alleged racist remarks is another glaring example of where hockey fails to be for everyone. Initial reports suggested that Peters was fired by the Flames but GM Brad Treliving revealed that Peters is still being investigated for his alleged remarks, while saying that the Flames are trying to be as transparent as possible.

Steve downie trade