🤝 Meet Zechariah Thomas. He’s a a former Canadian hockey player turned entrepreneur who has built a multi-million-dollar brand — Swift Hockey — selling a more affordable hockey stick good enough for the pros to use. Oh yeah, and he started it when he was just 19 with no external funding. We chatted with Zechariah about hockey’s affordability problem, what goes into making a new stick, and entrepreneurship lessons he’s learned along the way.
Give us the elevator pitch for Swift Hockey.
Swift Hockey is a performance hockey brand built by players, for players. I started it after living the reality of how expensive and inaccessible the sport can be. Our goal is simple: deliver elite-level sticks and gear without the legacy markup, reinvest back into growing the game, and ultimately build a modern sports brand rooted in performance, access, and culture, starting with hockey and expanding beyond it.
You’ve talked about making hockey more affordable. Realistically, how affordable can it get?
Hockey will likely always be more expensive than soccer or basketball, there’s no pretending otherwise. But the gap is bigger than it needs to be. We can absolutely lower the barrier to entry by cutting out unnecessary costs and focusing on performance over branding hype. If a family can save hundreds of dollars per season on equipment that still performs at a high level, that’s the beginning of meaningful change.
Hockey is now the 8th most popular youth sport in Canada. Is affordability the main reason?
Affordability is a big part of it, but it’s not the only factor. Time commitment, access to ice, and feeling like you belong all matter, too. When a sport feels expensive, exclusive, or intimidating, families opt out early. The challenge, and the opportunity, is making hockey feel more welcoming again, both financially and culturally.
What did the R&D process for your sticks look like?
We approached R&D the same way players do: test, adjust, repeat. It was months of prototyping, feedback from competitive players, and fine-tuning things like kick point, weight, balance, durability, and puck feel. A stick isn’t just about specs on paper, it’s about confidence. When a player picks it up, it must feel right immediately.
Who’s the most well-known athlete using your product? Any pros?
We’ve had NHL and PWHL players use our sticks in training and off-season settings, and we’re proud to be an official supplier to the Professional Women’s Hockey League. But honestly, what matters most to me is seeing young players choose Swift because it performs and it benefits their game, not because they’re paid to use it.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since founding the company at 19?
Trying to do everything yourself slows you down. Early on, I thought hustle meant never asking for help. The biggest lesson was learning when to delegate, when to listen, and when to trust people who know more than you in certain areas. Growth isn’t about control, it’s about building the right team.
What’s the next step for the business?
The focus now is scale with purpose. That means expanding distribution, continuing to innovate on product, deepening our impact in youth hockey and going into all sports to really make a difference. Growth only matters if it aligns with why we started: keeping more kids in the game.
Who will be the next Canadian team to win the Cup?
Since I grew up just outside of Toronto, I’m definitely biased, but I’ll say the Leafs. Eventually it has to happen, and when it does, the city might shut down for a week.