Kurtis Gabriel (born April 20, 1993) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He most recently played for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Gabriel is mostly known as an enforcer. After being passed over in the NHL Entry Draft during his first two years of eligibility, Gabriel was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the 3rd round (81st overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut with the Wild on November 10, 2015, but spent most of his tenure with their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. He concluded his nearly five season tenure with the team following the 2017–18 season, where he subsequently signed with the New Jersey Devils. Although Gabriel only spent one season with the Devils organization, he became the first NHL player to use Pride Tape outside of NHL designated Pride Nights. His advocacy work for the local community earned him the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year with the Wild and Phantoms. Early life and education Gabriel was born on April 20, 1993, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada to mother Kim. His mother and maternal grandparents are of Scottish heritage. His parents split up by the time he was six years old. Growing up, he played hockey, baseball, basketball, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee. By the age of 10, Gabriel was playing Triple-A level hockey, until his father died by suicide and he dropped two divisions. He would later collaborate with the Shared Grief Project as a result of his father's suicide. Playing career Amateur While attending Dr. John M. Denison Secondary School, Gabriel was convinced by a friend to pursue hockey as a career. At that point, he had been splitting his time between baseball, soccer, and hockey and was considering pursuing a college basketball scholarship. He began playing for the AAA midgets Markham Waxers and York-Simcoe Express before earning an invite to the Jr. A Newmarket Hurricanes and Georgina Ice Jr. C evaluation camp. While participating in the Georgina Ice evaluation camp in Georgina, Ontario, he impressed the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Owen Sound Attack scout Bryan Denney and was invited to their development camp. Gabriel ended up playing four seasons in the OHL from 2010 to 2014, all with the Owen Sound Attack. Gabriel played in 40 games for Owen Sound during