Color of Hockey: Thomas makes successful pitch on ‘Dragons’ Den’

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, he profiles Zechariah Thomas, a 20-year-old former minor pro hockey player from Oshawa, Ontario, who also represented Jamaica at the 2021 Amerigol LATAM Cup and recently scored a deal on the popular CBC TV series "Dragons' Den."

Zechariah Thomas entered the "Dragons' Den" well-prepared.

The 20-year-old former minor pro player/turned entrepreneur arrived with a Jamaica hockey jersey as an offering and knowledge from studying 300 hours-worth of episodes of the popular CBC TV series, Canada's version of ABC's "Shark Tank."

"I watched every single person's pitch, different ways they came up to it, different ways they talked during their pitch," Thomas said. "No other TV, no movies. Just straight 'Dragons' Den.'"

The scouting paid off when Thomas scored a $70,000 deal for Swift Hockey the low-cost hockey stick company he founded in 2022, in the 'Dragons' Den' season premiere Thursday night.

"It's a surreal moment, I'm still feeling jitters and butterflies in my stomach," he said in the episode that was recorded at CBC studios in Toronto in May. "I'm living proof that kids can chase their dreams … be an entrepreneur at the youngest age possible."

Four months later, the Oshawa native still can't believe what happened.

"It didn't feel real,” he said. "Going backstage, talking to producers, I felt like I was a movie star. It felt like I jumped into a TV screen is the best way to put it."

Thomas received investment offers from Dragons Arlene Dickenson, Michelle Romanow and Wes Hall in return for a piece of the action in his company, which sells youth, junior and senior carbon fiber sticks for between $110 and $159 (U.S.), about half the price of name-brand sticks.

The forward, who played for teams in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Federal Professional Hockey League, said he founded Swift Hockey with $100,000 that he earned through an e-commerce company he started when he was 18.

His goal with Swift Hockey is to ease the stick sticker shock for young and older players, and to make his brand a major player in the multimillion-dollar hockey stick industry.

Dickenson, founder and general partner of District Ventures Capital, offered Thomas $70,000 for a 15 percent stake in his company. Romanow, former CEO of Clearco, countered with $70,000 for 20 percent of Thomas' business. Hall, founder of WeShall Investments, Kingsdale Advisors and the BlackNorth Initiative, also offered $70,000 for 20 percent of Swift Hockey.

Hall noted that he partners with the Hockey Diversity Alliance through BlackNorth and that Thomas' sticks coincides with the alliance's mission of making hockey more accessible and affordable to communities of color.

Thomas enticed Hall, who was born in Jamaica and moved to Canada as a teenager, by presenting him with the Jamaica men's national team hockey jersey, which he promptly and proudly wore.

Thomas played for Jamaica in a friendly series against Puerto Rico in Queens, New York, in June and at the Amerigol LATAM Cup in Coral Springs, Florida, in 2021.

"My parents were pushing me, my grandma was pushing more toward Wes because he is a fellow Jamaican," he said. "My mom kind of had the idea of getting a Jamaican hockey jersey, give it to him on there and maybe it will help something go. I talked to Don Anderson, the head of the Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation, and he really wanted it. They're always looking for ways to highlight the program."

Thomas took Hall's offer. He looks forward to using the $70,000 to boost his inventory of sticks, which are manufactured in China. He said his stock was so low in May that he had to scramble to get enough sticks for his appearance on 'Dragons' Den.'

"I literally had to go back, text all of my friends and find as many sticks as I could because I was almost completely empty," he said. "I had maybe five sticks left in stock."

Thomas said Swift Hockey has sold more than 3,100 sticks to individuals and teams since he started the online business. He told the Dragons that he made $200,000 between December and May, clearing about $95,000 in profit.

He expects business to be even better after Thursday's "Dragons' Den" episode.

"For sure, it's going to be crazy," he said. "I know we're dealing with something kind of great in a sense that our business has the opportunity, if handled correctly, to compete with the bigger brands at this point."

Hockey has done well on "Dragons' Den." David Walcott, the father of forward/defenseman Daniel Walcott who plays for Syracuse, the Tampa Bay Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate, successfully pitched two Dragons to invest $150,000 in his ProDr8, a coconut water sports drink, in 2018.

Retired NHL forward Donald Brashear persuaded three Dragons to invest $500,000 in his low-cost Brash87 stick company in 2016. The Dragons got a 40 percent economic interest and 50 percent voting interest in the company, which no longer is in business.

Kyle Hagel, currently an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks' AHL affiliate, and retired professional forward Dustin Sproat successfully attracted all the Dragons to invest $250,000 for 10 percent equity in Shnarped Hockey, a hockey-themed social networking app, in 2013.

The app was used by NHL players including Jonathan Toews, Matt Moulson and Brendan Gallagher.

Photos courtesy of CBC.