Hockey has long carried a reputation as one of the most expensive sports a young athlete can pursue. Equipment costs alone can price out entire communities before a child ever steps onto the ice. Zechariah Thomas knows that reality firsthand — and at just 23 years old, he decided to do something about it. The founder of Swift Hockey sat down with host Raegan Subban this week to share how a dream born on the rinks of Oshawa, Ontario has grown into one of the most disruptive brands in the hockey equipment industry.
Zechariah is not your typical startup founder. He is a former minor professional hockey player who watched teammates break sticks and nearly break down in tears because they could not afford a replacement. That image never left him. It became the foundation of everything Swift Hockey is built on — high-quality, carbon fiber hockey sticks sold at prices that actually make sense for everyday families.
How Zechariah Built Swift Hockey From the Ground Up
Zechariah launched Swift Hockey in 2022 at the age of 19, funding the venture with $100,000 in savings from a prior e-commerce business he had started at 18. The concept was straightforward but radical for an industry dominated by brands charging upward of $500 per stick. Swift sells junior, intermediate, and senior carbon fiber sticks between $159 and $179, with goalie sticks priced between $179 and $199 — more than half the cost of comparable products from competing brands.
The company is now the first Black-owned business product officially recognized by the NHL, a milestone that Zechariah describes as surreal given how difficult it was to break into a sport where Black entrepreneurs have historically faced significant skepticism. Swift Hockey has sold more than 60,000 sticks with sales approaching $7 million CAD since launch, and roughly 65 percent of that business comes from the United States. The company has grown from Zechariah and two friends to a staff of 20, with a satellite office now open in Syracuse, New York.
The Dragons’ Den Moment That Changed Everything
The turning point for Swift Hockey came on September 21, 2023, when Zechariah appeared on Dragons’ Den — Canada’s version of Shark Tank — and walked away with a $70,000 deal from investor Wes Hall, a fellow Jamaican entrepreneur and founder of the BlackNorth Initiative. Zechariah had prepared for the pitch by watching 300 hours of Dragons’ Den episodes, studying every pitch style and every Dragon’s pattern of thinking before he ever stepped in front of the cameras.
The episode aired as the season premiere and immediately generated national attention. Following the broadcast, Zechariah received an outpouring of support from players across the hockey community — particularly from Black hockey players who had never seen someone who looked like them building a brand at that level in the sport. The exposure also led to partnerships with Nike and BioSteel, and positioned Swift as a legitimate supplier at the professional level, including a deal with the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
A Forbes 30 Under 30 Recognition Nobody Saw Coming
Earlier this year, Zechariah received what he described as one of the most unexpected honors of his life. Forbes named him to its 30 Under 30 List for 2026, placing him alongside Auston Matthews, Josh Allen, Victor Wembanyama, Juan Soto, and Coco Gauff. He and Matthews are the only two hockey-affiliated figures on the entire list — a detail that underscores just how far Zechariah has come from the youth rinks of Oshawa.
The 2026 class of Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees collectively raised $3.8 billion in funding and amassed more than 200 million social media followers combined. Zechariah celebrated with his classmates at a private list launch event in New York City, a moment he described as almost impossible to believe given everything he had to finance and sacrifice on his own to build Swift Hockey from nothing.
Why Zechariah Thomas Represents More Than a Business Story
The conversation Zechariah had with Raegan Subban this week was about more than hockey sticks and sales figures. It was about what it means to build something in a space that was not designed with you in mind. Zechariah admitted he was initially terrified to put his face on the brand, fearing that being a young Black entrepreneur in a predominantly white sport would cost him customers before he had the chance to prove the product.
He pushed past that fear. Swift Hockey now averages over 10 million online views per month, reaching a global audience of young players and families who see the brand as proof that the game can be for everyone. Zechariah’s mission has never wavered — make hockey accessible, make it affordable, and show the next generation of players who look like him that there is a place for them in the sport, both on the ice and in the boardroom.
