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| <b>Akim</b> Aliu set to make his NHL debut | Calgary Herald Posted: 05 Apr 2012 02:11 PM PDT Akim Aliu spent Christmas at home in Toronto as an unemployed hockey player with no job prospects at the tender age of 22. Talk about a massive crash to earth for a second-round pick (56th overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007 who promised at the time to make other NHL teams pay for taking a pass. Nearly five years later, Aliu is poised to make his NHL debut tonight with the Calgary Flames. "There's times individuals in this life – whether it's in this game or not – they get painted with a brush," Brent Sutter said after the morning skate." That's the way they're always being painted. They're never being given that second chance or that third chance."' For Aliu, controversy has dogged his every move in elite hockey. At 16, he refused to cram his naked body into a bathroom at the back of the Windsor Spitfires bus as part of a hazing exercise. A few weeks later, Steve Downie tapped him during the shoulder and cross-checked the rookie in the mouth. After retreating to the dressing room for repairs, Aliu returned to fight his captain. The incident garnered international media attention and highlighted the craziness surrounding hazing in all kinds of amateur – and professional – sports. Talk about a dramatic initiation for a kid who didn't even start playing competitive hockey until he was 12 after his family moved to Canada from Kiev, Ukraine. Aliu ended up as an ostracized teenager at odds with his teammates and the opposition. Confrontation followed his every turn. His troubles continued in the professional ranks. He started this season in the Winnipeg Jets organization, but ended up at home with his career in disarray. "You know, I'm not even ashamed to talk about it or anything like that," Aliu said. "I was with Winnipeg and new management came in and you know, we didn't really see eye to eye with the management in Winnipeg." So Aliu met with Calgary GM Jay Feaster before a Flames game in Detroit and asked for another chance. Feaster complied, and eventually swung a minor-league trade that involved John Negrin going the other way. In a checking role in Abbotsford, Aliu picked up 10 goals, four assists and 55 penalty minutes in 40 games. Heat head coach Troy Ward called him after practice Wednesday to break the news. "He kind of beat around the bush and then said I'm going to play my first National Hockey League game," Aliu said. "I had to pull over. I freaked out. I couldn't believe it. "I thought it was a joke." Aliu called his father, Tai, and the freaking out continued. "He almost had a heart attack," Aliu said of his dad. "He's here tonight. "Definitely a black guy who grew up in Nigeria never though he would watch his son play in the NHL, so it's huge." Aliu will play on a line with Michael Cammalleri and Matt Stajan against Vancouver Canucks. The game means nothing to the Flames in the standings, but everything to Aliu and his family. "I was talking about it with my dad the other day," Aliu said. "What if I made the NHL when I was 19 or 20? You never know what would have happened. Maybe my head would have got too big. You never know. "Definitely with how hard it was to get there, you hold onto it a lot stronger." Here are the lines for tonight's game: Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-Jarome Iginla And the pairings: Jay Bouwmeester-Chris Butler Scott Hannan-Anton Babchuk Miikka Kiprusoff gets the call in net for Calgary. |
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