Color of Hockey: Emery making strides with USNTDP thanks to dual citizenship

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Black History Month, he profiles EJ Emery, a 17-year-old defenseman who was born and raised in Canada and plays for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He’s 39th in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings of North American skaters eligible for the 2024 NHL Draft.

EJ Emery is used to getting good-natured ribbing from boyhood friends in Surrey, British Columbia, about his hockey choice.

The 17-year-old defenseman who was born and raised in Canada decided to play for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team. He has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship through his parents.

“I’ve got a lot of friends who were on Team Canada in the Under-17 Challenge and then the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and I got a lot of buddies who are playing in the ‘Dub’ (Western Hockey League), all of them from Canada,” said Emery, the son of an American father and Canadian mother. “Yeah, obviously, you’re going to hear it when you go back home. When you’re on the ice with them, they’re going to chirp you, but it’s all high spirits. We’re all working toward the same goal.”

Emery’s goal is hearing his name called at the 2024 NHL Draft June 28-29 in Las Vegas. He’s No. 39 on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings of the top North American skaters eligible for the draft.

He has 10 assists in 41 games for the NTDP this season, one assist in four games at the 2024 Under 18 Five Nations Tournament in Plymouth, Michigan, in February and had two assists in four games at the 2023 U18 Five Nations Tournament in Hameenlinna and Tampere, Finland, in November.

Scouts and coaches say Emery is a tantalizing combination of size (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) and strong skating ability and an offensive upside that reminds them of New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller, who played for the NTDP and the University of Wisconsin before the Rangers selected him with the No. 22 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.

“He's tall and long, super-athletic, really fast skater who covers a lot of ice, a lot of ground, really quickly,” said NTDP coach Nick Fohr, who also coached Miller. “K’Andre was a little bit thicker, a little bit stronger at the same age than EJ. He’s got some room to grow there and fill out and get stronger. The good piece of that is that over time, as he matures, that’s going to come and he’s only going to get better because of it.”

Emery sees the similarities with Miller, too.

“I think we have good skating ability and we're able to use our stick to close out plays pretty quickly,” he said. “Me and him are quite similar.”

NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said Emery is as impressive and focused in the gym as he is on the ice.

“EJ is there after every game,” Marr said.  “He’s the guy that puts in the extra time. He does have to get stronger and fill out, but what he has right now is strong. He works out like a demon. He’s possessed in that weight room.”

It’s a work ethic Emery said he inherited from his father, Eric Emery, a Shreveport, Louisiana, native who grew up in Compton, California, and played NCAA football for California State-Fullerton.

He later was a linebacker for the BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League from 1985-87.

“My dad put in me, ‘You've got to try to outwork everyone. You’re not going to see the people who are working, but if you stop working, that person right behind you is going to catch up to you,’” Emery said. “’You’ve got to go out full-time every single time or else you’re pretty much giving up your spot. You’ve got to put it all on the line.’ It’s part of our DNA in a way.”

The younger Emery also played Canadian football growing up, but his heart was in hockey, especially after he watched his favorite NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks, face the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

Boston won the series in seven games, but a seed was planted in Emery.

“I kind of loved playing hockey so much that I had to give up on football,” he said.

While most of his hockey-playing friends set their sights on playing in the WHL as the path to pursue their pro aspirations, Emery looked south of the border to the NTDP.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to come on a visit to the program and see what they do and kind of learn about it a little bit,” he said. “It was a no-brainer to come to the best development place in the world.”

Emery plans to stay stateside after his NTDP career is over. He’s committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the University of North Dakota.

“Me and my parents went out to North Dakota on a visit and just being around that community and being around the players and coaches, they made me feel a part of their family,” he said. “I felt like I was going to be in a good spot with people who are going to take care of me.”

Emery said he hopes to become a role model for other players of color coming up.

“That’s something I grew up with,” he said. “Now I’m starting my own path. I’ve had conversations with younger Black kids who are trying to go through the same experience that I have.

“I kind of tell them that you’re going through ups and downs. Being a (Black) person in the sport, there are not too many of us. You have to start paving your own way and paving a path for the younger people behind you. 

"I tell them it’s challenging … but at the end of the day, you’re representing you, you’re representing your family and you’re representing other people in the Black community.”