Akim Aliu

Akim Olumide Aliu (born April 24, 1989) is a Nigerian-born Ukrainian–Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Aliu was a second-round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks, 56th overall, in the 2007 NHL entry draft and has played for several AHL and ECHL teams in both the Blackhawks and Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets organizations before a trade to the Calgary Flames. Aliu made his NHL debut on April 5, 2012.

Early life Aliu was born in Okene, Nigeria and grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine. His father, Tai, a Nigerian, attended university in Kyiv on a track and field scholarship where he met and married Aliu's mother, Larissa, a Ukrainian. He has a brother, Edward. Uncomfortable with the political climate following the demise of the Soviet Union, Aliu's parents moved the family to Canada when he was 7 and settled in the Toronto area. but no English and had never played hockey. The fight and the reasons for it was international news and strained the relationship between Aliu and his teammates. As a result, Downie was suspended for five games, Aliu for one game, and both players demanded trades out of Windsor. Moe Mantha was given a 40-game ban from coaching by the league for the incidents and also suspended for one year as the team's general manager. The team was fined $35,000. In 2020, Aliu revealed more details about his time with the Spitfires, including that he believed Downie had taken a particular interest in treating him abusively in this and previous incidents because of Aliu's different racial and ethnic background.

The Spitfires traded Aliu to the Sudbury Wolves following the incident, where he was forced to sit out two months due to OHL rules that forbade trading 16-year-olds. He appeared in a total of 47 games that season, scoring 10 goals and 10 assists. He remained a controversial figure in the OHL, serving ten games in suspensions early in the 2006–07 season but was also ranked as the fifth best prospect for the 2007 NHL entry draft in an early season update by the league's scouting services. Aliu remained in junior for the 2007–08 OHL season, but with a new team as he was traded to the London Knights. It was his best junior season as he scored 61 points in 60 games and then played his first professional games, joining Chicago's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs for two games once his junior season ended. Aliu was again returned to junior for the 2008–09 season. He was traded back to Sudbury midway through the season, and recorded 42 points in 45 games split between the two teams. Following the season, his playing rights were traded to the Atlanta Thrashers. On June 23, 2010, he was included in a deal that also saw Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, and Brent Sopel head to Atlanta in exchange for Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb, Jeremy Morin and two draft picks. Aliu spent the majority of the 2010–11 season with the Thrashers' AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, but also played on loan with the Peoria Rivermen and had another stint in the ECHL, with the Gwinnett Gladiators. He played 10 games in Colorado and was later loaned to Austrian Hockey League club EC Red Bull Salzburg for a December tournament, but entered the Christmas break without a team to play for. The Flames recalled Aliu late in the season, and he made his NHL debut on April 5. He scored his first point, assisting on a Michael Cammalleri goal in a 3–2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames re-signed Aliu following the season as they agreed on a one-year deal. He appeared in five games with the Flames in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, but spent most of the year with the Heat. He was not offered a new contract by the Flames and joined the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs on a tryout agreement.

On October 10, 2014, Aliu signed with the Rochester Americans for the beginning of the 2014–15 season, after a successful training camp tryout. He featured in 10 games with the Americans before he was released and later signed by the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL on January 23, 2015. Aliu played 15 games with the Condors before he was loaned to play a solitary game to complete his season with the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL. His ECHL rights were traded by the Condors to the Orlando Solar Bears on March 12, 2015.

As a free agent over the summer without having appeared with the Solar Bears, Aliu attended the Lake Erie Monsters training camp for the 2015–16 season, however, was unable to secure a contract offer. Over a month later, Aliu returned overseas to sign for the remainder of the season with Russian club, Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL, on November 6, 2015.

On November 25, 2019, while a free agent, Aliu went public with allegations that at-the-time current Calgary Flames coach Bill Peters, while coaching the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, directed racial epithets at him in the locker room. As a result, Peters submitted his resignation four days later.

On January 21, 2020, Aliu resumed his professional career, securing a contract for the remaining 14 games of the 2019–20 season with Czech club, HC Litvínov, of the Czech Extraliga (ELH).

On June 8, 2020, Aliu co-founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance, alongside Evander Kane, to address intolerance and racism in hockey.

Aliu returned to professional hockey on March 20, 2024, announcing that he had signed a professional tryout contract with the San Jose Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. He made three appearances in the 2023–24 season, going scoreless for the Barracuda.

Career statistics Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2004–05 Milton Icehawks OPJHL 2 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Windsor Spitfires OHL 18 3 4 7 25 — — — — — 2005–06 Sudbury Wolves OHL 29 7 6 13 54 6 0 1 1 7 2006–07 Sudbury Wolves OHL 53 20 22 42 104 21 1 5 6 50 2007–08 London Knights OHL 60 28 33 61 133 5 2 1 3 15 2007–08 Rockford IceHogs AHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2008–09 London Knights OHL 16 8 10 18 30 — — — — — 2008–09 Sudbury Wolves OHL 29 10 16 26 61 6 2 1 3 14 2008–09 Rockford IceHogs AHL 5 2 0 2 14 1 1 0 1 0 2009–10 Rockford IceHogs AHL 48 11 6 17 69 — — — — — 2009–10 Toledo Walleye ECHL 13 5 9 14 18 2 1 1 2 16 2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 43 4 5 9 53 — — — — — 2010–11 Gwinnett Gladiators ECHL 16 12 8 20 22 — — — — — 2010–11 Peoria Rivermen AHL 16 5 4 9 20 2 1 0 1 6 2011–12 Colorado Eagles ECHL 10 2 4 6 28 — — — — — 2011–12 Abbotsford Heat AHL 42 10 4 14 59 5 0 1 1 28 2011–12 Calgary Flames NHL 2 2 1 3 12 — — — — — 2012–13 Abbotsford Heat AHL 42 4 7 11 111 — — — — — 2012–13 Calgary Flames NHL 5 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 2013–14 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 14 3 1 4 18 — — — — — 2013–14 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 9 1 0 1 7 — — — — — 2013–14 AIK IF SHL 2 1 0 1 6 — — — — — 2014–15 Rochester Americans AHL 10 3 1 4 51 — — — — — 2014–15 Bakersfield Condors ECHL 15 2 7 9 24 — — — — — 2014–15 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2015–16 Amur Khabarovsk KHL 19 2 5 7 52 — — — — — 2016–17 Florida Everblades ECHL 11 5 6 11 28 — — — — — 2016–17 Atlanta Gladiators ECHL 2 0 1 1 33 — — — — — 2016–17 Cleveland Monsters AHL 13 3 2 5 19 — — — — — 2017–18 HC '05 Banská Bystrica Slovak 9 2 4 6 14 — — — — — 2017–18 Karlskrona HK SHL 6 0 0 0 62 — — — — — 2017–18 IK Pantern Allsv 6 0 1 1 16 3 1 1 2 8 2018–19 Orlando Solar Bears ECHL 11 4 5 9 10 — — — — — 2019–20 HC Litvínov ELH 6 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 2023–24 San Jose Barracuda AHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —NHL totals 7 2 1 3 26 — — — — —