Emerson Etem is on the verge of living his NHL dream

Emerson Etem knew where he wanted to go, never flinching at the difficulty of his unconventional journey.

As he moved from roller hockey at the Long Beach YMCA to ice hockey, from local leagues to famed Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school in Minnesota, from the U.S. National Team Development Program to the rugged world of junior hockey in Medicine Hat, Canada, he went to extraordinary lengths to pursue his dream.

Most remarkable was the 2 ½-hour trip he made every day the last four summers from Long Beach to Venice to train with T.R. Goodman, fitness guru to a galaxy of NHL stars. To get there, Etem (pronounced EEE-tem) rollerbladed four miles, took two trains, transferred to a bus and rollerbladed the final half-mile. After a grueling, three-hour workout, he did it all in reverse.

“It’s a humbling experience,” said Etem, who turned 18 last week. “I’m fortunate to be in a situation that kept me humble.”

He has earned the right to brag a little. Actually, a lot.

Etem, a swift right winger with a knack for scoring goals, is ranked eighth among North American skaters for the NHL entry draft, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Staples Center. After factoring in goalies and European players, he’s likely to be chosen by the middle of the first round.

That would be the earliest selection of a California-born-and-trained player, a distinction now held by Jonathon Blum of Rancho Santa Margarita, chosen 23rd by Nashville in 2007.

“It’s been a central part of our life the last 10 years,” said his father, Rick, an avionics engineer for Boeing. “Prior to those 10 years, I guess I would have never thought it possible.”

The quality of Etem’s wrist shot is undisputed after he led Western Hockey League rookies last season with 37 goals. Shaun Clouston, Medicine Hat’s associate coach, said Etem has top NHL speed and much more.

“He also has an understanding of what it takes to get there,” Clouston said. “The thing that might be even most important is his belief. He believes that he’s going to be a player and I think when you have that belief that’s probably what’s going to happen.”

Whatever his draft number, it will be a sweet moment for Etem, who has overcome not only skepticism shown players from non-traditional hockey breeding grounds but racial taunts because his father is white and his mother is African American.

“I want to set a good example,” said Etem, a Kings fan who has been mentored by Kings winger Wayne Simmonds, one of the few black players in the NHL. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from. Just keep focused and work hard.… You can achieve anything.”

He’s the youngest child of Rick, who played tennis and rowed at the Naval Academy, and Patricia, who made the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic rowing teams. His brother, Martin, and sister, Elise, are elite rowers, but hockey was always his passion.

“Emerson has always put himself in places of high risk in terms of you really can’t afford to fail, and he’s excelled. I think that’s how you get where you want to be,” Patricia Etem said. “What I imparted to my kids, I think, was … if you want it and you want it at the level you’re dreaming it, you have to go beyond. You have to be the one to envision what that ‘beyond’ is.”

That meant leaving home at 14 to attend Shattuck St. Mary’s, which has polished the talents of Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Kings defenseman Jack Johnson, Zach Parise and other standouts. Etem saw Crosby while watching his brother in a tournament there and Shattuck became part of a meticulous plan to pit himself against ever-better competition.

“He’s done a good job in that area,” Rick Etem said. “That wasn’t something that we coached him on.”

Making the prep team as a sophomore, as Crosby and Johnson had, boosted Etem’s confidence and helped silence the California surfer jokes. “My name wasn’t on the map or out there at that point,” he said. “I think in the end I proved a lot of people wrong.”

From there he moved to the U.S. development program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. What he heard there was even worse. An opposing player used a racial slur against him. Etem responded in the best possible way.

“I scored a lot of goals,” he said. “We beat them in a playoff series in the first round.”

Etem passed a different test last season in Medicine Hat, a town of about 62,000. The schedule was demanding — 72 games, plus exhibitions and playoffs — and the competition tougher than anything he had faced before, but he thrived.

“He’s very focused,” Clouston said. “I believe he’s got an intelligence that is noticeable on and off the ice.”

Soon he will live his dream — and share it with anyone who has ever pursued an unlikely goal with body and soul.

“Going into the year I wanted to be the first overall pick, but obviously that’s not going to happen,” he said. “But I like to set high standards for myself. I’m ranked eighth right now. I feel I should be at the top. At the same time, this is only the first step of my career and my goal is to be the best out of this draft.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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