Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

One of the games rising stars

Rockets Tij Iginla featured during Black History Month

Feb 6, 2024 | 8:00 AM

February is Black History Month.

One of the young black players making an impact with the Kelowna Rockets this season is forward Tij Iginla.

The son of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, the 17-year-old leads the team with 34 goals and is projected to be a first-round selection in June’s NHL draft.

Tij Iginla spoke to RocketFAN about many of his role models growing up, which included his NHL father and his grandfather.

“My Grandpa Elvis is a great man,’ Iginla said. “He has taught me a lot of things and has a lot of life experiences. He came over from Nigeria to Canada. I am super grateful for the wisdom he has given me, my dad, and my family.”

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Elvis Iginla, Jarome’s father, was 18 when he immigrated, arriving in Alberta in the mid-70s before going through law school and becoming an attorney in Edmonton.

“He is always sending me texts and is at as many games as he can, watching on TV, so he is a big supporter,” Iginla added.

“I see my dad as someone who’s very concerned with having a positive influence in the lives of people around him, whether he’s at work or at home,” Jarome Iginla said in a 2013 interview with ImpactUs. “I’m very proud of that and try to follow his example in the way I live.”

Fortunately for Tij Iginla, the middle child to older sister Jade and younger brother Joe, the soft-spoken forward has never faced racism while involved in the sport of hockey.

Growing up in an athletic family, spending summers at the family home in Lake Country, Iginla learned to play a variety of sports outside of hockey, and credits two pro athletes for being influential in his athletic pursuits.

“Michael Jordan was one I looked up to,” he added. “We watched the documentary ‘Last Dance’ more than a few times. He was a great competitor.”

Another athlete, in the prime of his playing career who will play in this Sunday’s Super Bowl is also someone Iginla wants to emulate.

“Patrick Mahomes [Quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs] for sure,” he added. “He is always fighting for a championship and is never easy to beat. I think it is cool to watch them, see how they prepare and compete at a high level.”

Iginla is not the first black player to put on a Kelowna Rockets jersey. Madison Bowey, who captained the team to a WHL championship in 2015, is also from a mixed-race couple. Unlike Iginla, Bowey faced racism growing up when he was called the n-word while playing minor hockey, which he spoke about at great length two years ago this month on The Players Tribute website. Bowey is playing this season in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.

Tyrell Goulbourne, also one of Bowey’s teammates that claimed the Ed Chynoweth Cup that season, has Jamaican ancestry. D-man Devante Stephens (2014-2017) should also be included in that group. Goaltender Michael Herringer (204-2017), who had a terrific story of being an orphan from Haiti, is another player of colour that comes to mind.

According to a new release, the NHL and NHLPA has announced plans to celebrate Black History Month with their “Next Generation of Hockey History” campaign.

The joint NHL and NHL Players’ Association campaign aims to recognize emerging Black excellence in the hockey world and the “commitment and dedication required to break barriers and become changemakers.”

While Tij Iginla will be featured, so will Medicine Hat Tigers forward Cayden Lindstrom, rated third in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.