Josh Ho-Sang

Joshua Ho-Sang (born January 22, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played for the Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

He was selected by the Windsor Spitfires in the first round (5th overall) during the 2012 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection.

He was rated a top prospect.

In his first season with the Spitfires, Ho-Sang recorded 44 points in 63 games, finishing sixth among OHL rookies.

In December 2012, he played for Team Ontario at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge.

In five games, he had three goals and two assists.

He was selected by the New York Islanders in the first round, 28th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

The Toronto Sun described him in June 2014 as a "singular hockey player of immense talent, caught on an island of discourse."

He said of himself: "I'm more emotional than most people. That poses a problem for the hockey world. A lot of players are trained to hold their emotions... I love to dangle. I love to play an offensive game. I love to celebrate when I score."

Ho-Sang was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Jamaican father of Chinese and African descent and a Chilean mother of Russian-Jewish and Swedish heritage.

He grew up in the Thornhill neighbourhood of the Regional Municipality of York, in the Toronto suburbs.

He said he has "always celebrated the Jewish holidays like Chanukah and the High Holidays with family and friends," as well as Christmas and Easter.

When he was 17 years old, Toronto Sun writer Steve Simmons predicted that he "might be better than all" the previous Jewish ice hockey players (which included the then-current Jewish NHL players centre Michael Cammalleri, right winger Mike Brown, left winger Eric Nystrom, and centre Jeff Halpern).

His father, Wayne, is a black Jamaican professional tennis player from Kingston, Jamaica, whose grandfather is Chinese from Hong Kong; he was also a member of the reggae band Fujahtive.

His business analyst mother, Ericka, is Jewish and was born in Santiago, Chile, to Russian and Swedish parents.

His father immigrated to Canada from Jamaica at the age of 10, and his mother immigrated to Canada from Chile at the age of 12.

His brother Khole is five years his junior.

At age 13 in November 2014, Khole was a member of Team Ontario in American football and was slated to play for Canada in the 2015 Snooper Bowl, an international Pop Warner Football competition.

As a first degree black belt in taekwondo, he finished second in his category at Nationals in 2014, and was named to Team Ontario and the Canadian national team.

Ho-Sang skated in the 2014 BMO Top Prospects Game, recording one goal and one assist.

On April 5, Ho-Sang received a 15-game suspension (later reduced to six games) for the start of the next season for an illegal hit-from-behind to London Knights' defenceman Zach Bell on March 27.

The hit resulted in Bell suffering a broken leg.

Ho-Sang was selected by the New York Islanders in the first round (28th overall) in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Islanders' general manager Garth Snow indicated he was not worried about Ho-Sang fitting in, saying, "He'll fit right in. They shit on me too."

Snow also stated "We get the players that we feel can help us win. [And] we don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks."

In October 2014, the Islanders signed Ho-Sang to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Ho-Sang was returned to the Spitfires for the 2014–15 season.

Ho-Sang was returned to the IceDogs as punishment for being late to the first day of the Islanders' 2015 training camp.

In his final season with the IceDogs, Ho-Sang led the team in scoring with 82 points in 66 games.

He also recorded 26 points in 17 postseason games; the team lost in four games to the London Knights during the OHL Finals.

On November 14, he was traded to the Niagara IceDogs in exchange for Hayden McCool and second-round picks in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

He finished the season with 81 points in 60 games.

Ho-Sang began the 2016–17 season with the Islanders' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

On February 28, 2017, he was called up by the Islanders on emergency conditions but was returned to Bridgeport just a few hours later.

Ho-Sang was recalled the following day and made his NHL debut with the Islanders on March 2, 2017, against the Dallas Stars.

On March 7, in his fourth NHL game, Ho-Sang scored his first NHL goal, a first-period power play goal against the Edmonton Oilers.

Ho-Sang started the 2017–18 season with the Islanders.

On October 25, he was assigned to the Sound Tigers after recording four assists in six games.

He was recalled on an emergency basis on November 11, 2017.

The emergency basis was terminated and changed to a regular recall on November 16.