Boko Imama has dealt with adversity in path to the Ottawa Senators

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Getting called up for his first game with the Ottawa Senators, his 10th game in the National Hockey League, was a big deal for Bokondji (Boko) Imama, who has scratched and clawed and fought for everything he’s gotten since he was overlooked in the 2014 draft.

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Nothing has come easy: He played for two teams (Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Saint John Sea Dogs) in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with the Manchester Monarchs in the East Coast Hockey League, three teams in the American Hockey League (Ontario Reign, Tucson Roadrunners and Belleville Senators) and nine games with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.

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With the Sea Dogs, he was suspended for 15 games for defending a 15-year-old teammate and, along the way, he has been been subjected to racial slurs and gestures on the ice.

Yeah, so, Imama, whose parents (Bokondji Sr. and Kumbia) immigrated to Canada from Democratic Republic of Congo, has learned how to deal with adversity in his hockey journey.

Now there’s another opportunity; he played for the Senators on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils, on home ice, less than two hours’ drive away from where he grew up.

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Yes, it was a big deal for a 27-year-old player who from a young age had a nice skill level; he was a goal scorer. As he got bigger, he knew he had to adapt, play a tough, physical, high-energy style of hockey and maybe, just maybe, it would get him to the NHL.

Now, at 6-1 and 221 pounds, he’s not counted on much to put in the puck in the net. He plays hard and with that rugged style comes a readiness to fight; he’ll exchange punches with anyone if he figures it helps his team.

“As I moved forward in my career, I had to figure out a way to be effective,” Imama said Saturday morning. “For me, it was through my physical play. I’m a depth guy. I’m a bottom(-line) guy.  I play a hard game, a physical game, I get into the dirty areas. I take a lot of pride in that.”

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Sure enough, 5:20 into Saturday’s game, he fought with New Jersey’s Kurtis MacDermid, earning a huge cheer from the fans in a mostly full Canadian Tire Centre.

He says his strong work ethic and high character are passed along from his dad, a businessman working in Canada and Africa, and mom, who works in a nursing home.

He was on skates when he was four or five. His dad could see the neighbourhood kids in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) neighbourhood playing hockey; it was the thing to do in the home city of the Canadiens. 

So the youngster, who also turned heads as a football player (running back and linebacker) turned his sights to hockey.

“It was pretty natural (for my parents to let me play hockey),” he said. “Montreal is a big hockey spot.

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“There was some thought of (playing football at a higher level), but, when you’re from Montreal … hockey is just so big there. A few football coaches were a bit heartbroken when I decided to pursue a hockey career.”

From 2012 to 2015, he played junior hockey with Baie-Comeau. Then in 2015, he was dealt to the Sea Dogs. 

In Saint John, he played alongside current Ottawa teammates Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph.

“He can shoot, he can skate, he plays a hard game,” Joseph said. “And he’s always there for his teammates. It’s good to see him back.”

After scoring 13 goals in that 2014-15 season, Imama was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round of the NHL draft. Two seasons later, he scored an eye-popping 41 goals in his final season of junior hockey.

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“I went undrafted my first year, so there was a bit of adversity,” he said. “Going into (the next year), I had low expectations. But to finally hear my name being called by the Lightning was definitely surreal.”

As he struggled to gain a foothold in the AHL, tough enough on its own, he was subjected to racism.

San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik was suspended 30 games for making a racial gesture in early 2022. Two years before that, Bakersfield Condors defenceman Brandon Manning received a five-game suspension for using a racial slur in an altercation with Imama.

“I’ve been dealing with situations like this my entire life,” Imama wrote on Twitter after the second incident. “As a person of colour playing youth hockey, through junior and now twice as a professional, this keeps happening to me over and over again.”

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In 2021-22, he had a career-high 178 penalty minutes in Tucson.

He was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings’ organization, then to the Coyotes.

He was signed as a free agent by the Senators last July. In Belleville this season, Imama had 10 points and 115 penalty minutes.

Joseph said being in the minors gave players an opportunity to polish elements of a game that helped them make a push to the next level.

“I’ve been there, too,” Joseph said. “You grind.”

Getting the latest NHL opportunity — wearing jersey No. 20 and playing on the fourth line alongside Mark Kastelic and Jiri Smejkal on Saturday — is exciting for Imama. 

“There is no better feeling,” he said. “It’s about playing my game, do whatever I can to support the team and keep things as simple as possible.”

And, if he shows enough in the coming days, weeks, months, to find his way to a full-time job in the NHL … Well, that’s how it all started, way back when he was a kid.

“You dream it so you believe it,” he said. “You believe in yourself, but, once you get the chance to step into these walls, it becomes unreal.”

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