Advertisement

Akim Aliu nets two points in first two games with Czech Extraliga HC Litvinov

Ailish Forfar
·NHL Editor
·2 min read
Akim
Akim Aliu had two points in his first two games with HC Litvinov in the Czech Extraliga. (AP)

Akim Aliu is showing no signs of rust after his first two games with HC Litvinov of the Czech Extraliga. The 30-year-old has only played 25 total games of professional hockey in the last two years, but his debut with Litvinov saw two points in two games.

In his first game on Jan 26, Aliu tallied an assist a 4-3 shootout loss to HC Kometa Brno and then scored the team’s third goal of the game in a 5-1 win over HC Plzeň on Jan 28.

Nigerian born Aliu was pushed into the spotlight this season after exposing former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters’ past racist comments, and later sat down in a candid interview with Ron MacLean where he said: “I truly believe (Bill Peters) ruined and deterred my career.”

Aliu helped inspire a watershed moment within the league this season after his credible accusations forced Bill Peters to resign and former players to speak out, while also encouraging the NHL to create a hotline for reporting inappropriate conduct.

When Aliu signed with HC Litvinov he told the Associated Press he hoped his decision to move overseas wouldn’t slow down the player empowerment momentum.

“It was a tough decision,” Aliu said. “We are doing good work here on shining light on the issues in the game. My hesitation was on not losing this momentum.”

More NHL coverage from Yahoo Sports