Color of Hockey: Roberts adopts two-way career strategy

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past eight years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the game. Today, he profiles Ryerson University player and Soul On Ice: The Podcast co-host Elijah Roberts.

Elijah Roberts has his eyes on the prize. But he also has a Plan B, just in case.
Roberts, a 21-year-old undrafted defenseman who was an overage player in the Ontario Hockey League last season, is still chasing his dream of playing in the NHL by taking a longer, less-traveled route. He's committed to play in 2020-21 for Ryerson University in Toronto, where he's enrolled in the sport media program.
He's already putting his hockey and budding media skills to use as co-host of Soul On Ice: The Podcast with award-winning filmmaker Kwame Damon Mason and Los Angeles Kings forward prospect
Akil Thomas
. The podcast recently joined the NHL stable of podcasts that includes NHL Fantasy On Ice, NHL Executive Suite, NHL Draft Class, NHL@TheRink and Puck Culture.
"It's still Plan A to play pro," said Roberts, who scored 108 points (23 goals, 85 assists) in 294 OHL games for Niagara and Kitchener. "My main goal is to come out of Ryerson, get a contract and hopefully still make the NHL."
But working in sports media, specifically broadcasting, is Roberts' Plan B. Studying it in college and co-hosting the podcast is giving Roberts a head start in the business, whether it's after a professional playing career or if he doesn't reach the pros.
"Getting the chance to do this podcast; to learn from Kwame, who's been in radio for over 30 years, and with certain guests that we have -- (Hockey Night in Canada hosts) Ron MacLean and David Amber -- to learn from some of those guys has taught me a lot," he said. "It's going to give me a big advantage, and I'm learning a lot already."
Roberts listens attentively to his on-air guests and soaks up critiques that some of the guests and Mason, director of the 2015 Black hockey history documentary "Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future," offer when the microphones are off.

"After each episode I get advice like, 'Your tone could have been this way,' or 'You could have asked the question this way,'" Roberts said. "David Amber told me, 'I hate when people say, tell me about this.' He wants the interviewer to engage a little bit more. He said he prefers when people get into detail."
Amber, who hosts Hockey Night in Canada's late game on Saturdays, said he's impressed that Roberts remembered his suggestion and with the long-view approach that he's taking with his hockey and media pursuits.
"I'm glad he was listening, and it was of interest to him," Amber said. "Guys I've talked to who've gone the NCAA, college route, who went to Bowling Green or Harvard, they've gotten some really amazing degrees and other professional opportunities but always loved hockey. It was their first love and true love, and they didn't want to give up on it. And I think Elijah is the same way. He's keeping every avenue available to him open which is the smartest thing to do."
Roberts and Ryerson coach Johnny Duco believe that the 5-foot-9 defenseman is also making a smart move by switching to forward in college to take advantage of his skating ability.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find a better skater on the ice -- he can absolutely fly," Duco said. "I think he can develop a role in our league right away as a penalty killer, a player who can potentially play on a shutdown line with the speed that he brings."
Thomas, who played with Roberts at Niagara, said his former teammate is "one of the fastest players I've seen on the ice, ever." He's been giving his podcast partner tips on playing at forward.
"I think he should have made the switch a long time ago," said Thomas, who was chosen by the Kings in the second round (No. 51) of the 2018 NHL Draft. "All he needs to work on is his hands. On D, you don't need hands -- you need to know how to make quick decisions. But as a forward, you get the puck in the slot, you have to protect it; you get the puck in the slot, you have to have decent enough hands to get the shot off or stickhandle around a guy."
Roberts said he believes that the move to forward and playing Canadian U Sports hockey will improve his chances of making the NHL or another pro league. He realizes that it's a longer road but not an impossible path to take after not being drafted by an NHL team and completing his major junior eligibility last season.
He had hoped to be selected in the 2017 NHL Draft after being a key defenseman on Canada's gold-winning team at the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and playing in the Under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup the following year.
Roberts was ranked as the 208th-best North American skater on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list before the 2017 draft, but he slipped off the final rankings list.
"I was pretty hyped up and had a pretty good shot of being drafted, but I had a bad draft season and that's just the way it was," he said. "You dream of getting drafted, especially when you think you're going to get drafted, and then things go wrong. It's tough. But when I look at it now, it's probably the best thing to happen. It's made me a better person. It made me take a step back and realize you can never stop working for one second."
Roberts now draws his inspiration from
Joel Ward
, who was undrafted after he played for Owen Sound in the OHL, played for the University of Prince Edward Island and went on to play 11 seasons in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks. Roberts had a chance to chat with Ward when the former NHL forward was a Soul On Ice: The Podcast guest.

"One thing he told me was, 'When you go to school, don't get caught up in the partying and the messing around. Make sure at the end of every day you've done something to make yourself better,'" Roberts said. "That's a guy who wasn't expected to get to where he was and then ends up making it as far as he did and had a great NHL career. He's someone who I always looked up to."
Roberts has company in his pro quest at Ryerson in Kyle Bollers, a childhood friend and former OHL and Ontario Junior Hockey League forward. Bollers, the son of Jamaican national team coach Cyril Bollers, scored 86 points (39 goals, 47 assists) for Brantford of the OJHL last season.

"We've known each other since we were 9 or 10 (years old)," Bollers said of Roberts. "We ended up committing (to Ryerson) together, we're probably going to live together, and I couldn't be more happy."