Via Sportsnet, a report on how Abbotsford Canucks forward Jermaine Loewen uses his personal experience to educate and inspire younger Black players:

TAGWA MOYO: You started playing hockey late, what are your first memories of the game?

LOEWEN: The first day, I didn’t know the rules of the game. Seriously. Didn’t have any idea. Coach said, ‘Maybe we’ll put you on defence.’ I was, like, not good. I couldn’t backward skate at all. I could barely even skate. I just kept working at it and then they switched me to playing as a forward for the next season and I was the second leading scorer on the team. And then a few years later, I got drafted by the Blazers, at around 15 years old.

I started playing at 12 years old; I started playing for the Kamloops Blazers at 16 years old. And then I played there till I was 20. I had almost 300 games in the Western Hockey League. And I scored 75 goals in two years. My first season, I had zero goals. It was pretty disheartening.

I got drafted by the Dallas Stars when I was 20. And 36 goals in 65 games as a grinder, finishing checks, physical, I have skill to play a different type of game as well. After that, I put up like 28 and 54 games, and then I signed my first pro deal with a two-year deal, and I played for Chicago. And then I went out to Vegas, played in Vegas for three years, and now I’m here.

You and I both grew up in small Canadian towns where we were both minorities. What was your experience of that dynamic like?

I’m very mindful of my surroundings, and it’s always been like that — even juniors when I was playing for the Blazers. I was the only Black guy on my team for every team picture and photos. I had to learn how to really love myself. If I didn’t love myself, I don’t think I would be able to have made it, because even when I was living in Arborg, people would be like, ‘Oh, there’s a Black guy.’ People would say, ‘He’s pretty scrawny and lanky, but he’s good.’

Can you speak to some of the racism you have dealt with throughout your career?

I’ve been through certain situations where somebody had said some racist things or discriminatory things. But if you know your “why?” it gives you added motivation. I just knew that I could be the first Jamaican-born player drafted in the National Hockey League. I’m going to have that as my goal, like nobody’s going to stop me.

My goal is still to make the NHL. And I may not get there, but I believe that I have the ability to do big things. I’m just working on the process of it now. It’s what you put yourself through and how you’re able to keep a narrow focus. And I was able to keep a narrow focus. Hockey is my outlet, my way out in Arborg. I didn’t want to stay there. No problems with the people that are there. The people love me and did a lot for me. I’ve got a lot of thanks and respect for a lot of people. But at the end of the day, if it wasn’t playing hockey, I don’t know what else I would have been doing. So that’s kind of my driving force. You need something that drives you further. Hockey’s kind of my vehicle, my outlet to express myself.

You spoke on being the first Jamaican to be drafted. Hockey isn’t big in the Black community. What sparked your interest in the sport?

For me, the game is super technical. When I play, as much as I fight and scrap, you actually still have to be able to make plays with the puck, to coordinate your body on the ice. People from Jamaica sometimes ask me, ‘How do you do it?’ My uncle in Jamaica even says it: ‘How do you coordinate your body to be able to make those plays on the ice?’ I obviously feel very talented and gifted, but it’s also something that you have to work very, very hard at.

I remember growing up, I would see Jarome Iginla playing and think, ‘Yo, he’s like me!’ Have you ever thought about how you’re now that player for little Black kids? How does that feel?

It’s huge. For me, when I go out onto the ice, I always try to think how blessed I am, and I always try to think there’s some kid that’s gonna need that motivation, that needs that example of somebody that’s doing it. I’m very blessed and honoured to put the jersey on. All the opportunities that people have given me, I need to pay it back. I always try to, you know, go to schools, read my book to the kids, because if you just play because of hockey, it’s not going to go as far when you’re feeling tired. It’s a demanding game. Like, it’s one of the hardest games in the world to play, physically and mentally. You play 72-game seasons and, like, hitting every shift. I’m getting hit. Football is hard, but I think it’s demanding in a different way because [in hockey] you’re going fast and you’re always on, always on your edge.

What advice do you have for young Black hockey players that are trying to make it and might be struggling through things that you struggled with — being the only one in the team pictures or struggling to fit in?

I think it’s if you’re able to be motivated. For me, it was like I wanted to be the first Jamaican player drafted into the NHL. So, I accomplished that goal. It sounds really simple and easy, but if you set yourself a goal and then you work towards that goal — have realistic goals, you can’t have goals that are way too lofty at the start, but you got to have a goal. ‘I want to play major junior hockey.’ ‘I want to be the best version of myself.’ ‘Be the best person in my community, in my area.’ It’s important to always be humble, be humble and kind. At the end of the day, I feel like humility has gotten me way further. That’s what coaches and management and people in the hockey world have seen in me: It’s my work ethic. In the time after I leave the rink, I do things that help me to become the best professional, the best version of myself. Taking care of my mental health, eating right, sleeping right, also cutting out the distractions. I think if you want to become a pro, like, become the best version of yourself and maybe make it in juniors or make it in high-level hockey, whatever your goal is, you have to learn what are the distractions or what are the things that are holding me back. What are the things that I actually need to cut out?