The hockey journey of New Trier White junior goalie Armaan Virani took a unique turn in middle school.

 

His parents, he said, have always been the main influence on his career. Although they didn’t play hockey, they understand him the best. “Throughout middle school they noticed I wasn’t loving hockey the same, as I used to,” he said. “They encouraged me to quit hockey in eighth grade and (instead) find other interests. Because of this, I was able to develop interest in climate activism, investing, entrepreneurship and physics.”

 

Then, in the beginning of spring during his eighth-grade year, they convinced him to return to hockey.

 

Virani’s eighth-grade social studies teacher at Marie Murphy School in Wilmette also played a role – he too pushed and convinced Virani to put his pads back on when he started at New Trier High School.

 

The teacher just so happens to be Rob Malstrom, head coach for New Trier Blue.

 

“For the spring season (at the end of eighth grade), our first game was against York JV … we won in a shootout,” Virani said. “It was a thrilling game; I (faced) a lot of shots and it made me fully love hockey again.

 

“I since have found the same love for the game that I once had plus newfound interest that I pursue to this day.”

 

Virani, 16, who lives in Wilmette, formerly played for the Highland Park Falcons and CYA. He is now a Trevian, in jersey No. 1, stopping shots in the Academic Hockey League (AHL) for New Trier.

 

“I primarily play on one objective, to win,” he said. “I do as much as I can to help my team win. This entails focusing on a compact stance but having the flexibility to adapt to situations that are present and make unconventional saves to keep the puck out of the net. This leads me to being aggressive in the net.

 

“My favorite hockey moment was the first game when I came back to playing hockey.”

 

Last season, he played for New Trier Grey. Now he’s stopping shots in the AHL. New Trier White is 6-4, riding a 4-game winning streak heading into their Saturday night home game against Glenbrook South in Wilmette.

 

Virani has started all 18 games this season for White, including 10 in the AHL.

 

“This team is one of the most cohesive I’ve played on at New Trier. Everyone wants to show up every day and we are in this together,” he said. “We all believe in our talent and know that we can beat any team we face.

 

“We have proven that we can beat any team in the AHL. We have strung up a nice winning streak with our AHL and exhibition games. We (must) keep up this momentum we have built. I believe if we do so we have a clear path to winning the AHL. We have the right talent and are coming together as a team. Our team-first playing mentally can lead us to be competitive in (the) state (tournament) as well.”

 

New Trier White head coach Jeremy Ellis said Virani has been rock solid all season.

 

“Our backup goalie has been injured all season, so the weight of the team has been on Armaan’s shoulders,” Ellis said. “The boys love him and work hard for him every game. He’s great at controlling rebounds and tracks pucks as well as any goalie in our league.

 

“He gives us a chance to win every time we take the ice.”

 

White is led by Matt Satriano, who has tallied 10 goals and 7 assists in the Trevians’ first 10 AHL games – and his 17 points leads the league, three more than Jayden De Leon (Glenbrook North).

 

“(Our) biggest strength is our resilience,” Virani said. “Throughout games we may be down a goal or tied, but we persist through and end up with a win. It starts with trusting each other and our skill, knowing that even if we are down or our lead has shrunk, the game isn’t over. We will still outwork each team we play and end up with a win.”

 

Virani stands tall in a leadership role for the Trevians – for the team, not just his personal play. In years past, “I was more concerned with my own personal play where I would miss out on opportunities to dictate the game and point out things to forwards or defensemen,” he said. “This year, I’ve tried to be more vocal to help the team be on the same page.”

 

Virani’s game focus starts in the locker room: he sits in silence for five minutes before the game. “It gives me time to collect my thoughts and focus on what skill I want to improve in the game and what I need to do to win,” he said.

 

Then it’s the first five shots that are key. “If I stop the first five shots, I will have a good game (thus), I focus on those critical first moments. If I stop those (five shots), I feel that I am in the zone; if not, I sort of take it as a bad omen.”

 

Virani is pushed to win a state championship this year or next, and then continue playing club hockey in college. He also gives back to the sport, coaching hockey in Wilmette – a passion he plans to continue long-term.

 

OFF-ICE PASSIONS

Virani has long loved nature – be it watching Wild Kratts, walking outside or traveling to national parks and nature reserves in the U.S and beyond. “I was always in awe of the beauty of earth,” he said. “As I grew older and learned, I crossed paths with the reality of climate change.

 

“At first, I never gave anything much thought besides hockey, but, in eighth grade, when I took a break from hockey, I was able to look at the world and my place in it. I learned more about the effects of climate change and personal actions you can take to help mitigate the effects.

 

“We all have a set perception of what sustainability means which often falls into lines with turning off lights and faucets when we are not using them, using reusable bags and straws instead of plastic ones, recycling garbage, and if we are financially able to, switch to an electric car or use renewable energy to power our homes. However, I learned that the majority of people are heavily uneducated in sustainability as I realized that there were a lot of bigger issues contributing to climate change than just the ones listed above.”

 

Virani added, “Although it is true that using reusable and switching to renewable energy are important steps for sustainability, there are a lot more things people can do. Two of the main sources of global warming are livestock production and consumerism. Livestock produce greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane as well as contribute to deforestation as farmers have to clear land to feed people meat. In total, meat consumption and livestock production account for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. Consumerism also plays a big role in global warming as fossil fuels are used to produce products in factories, run marketing campaigns on electronics and transport them to stores. And, many of the products we buy, we don’t use and they go to waste, and companies use planned obsolescence where they design products that encourage customers to frequently buy new replacement products instead of repairing old ones. Excessive consumerism accounts for 60 percent of global warming.”

 

Knowing the facts, Virani make personal, lifestyle changes, including being conscious of what he buys and, for a solid time, being vegetation, though after consulting nutritionist decided that it was best to wait until in college. “I also decided that I would try to educate people on the effects of global warming and actions they can take to be more sustainable,” he said.

 

To that, his current climate change work now focuses on educating others on the effects and the actions others can take to mitigate it and be more sustainable.

 

Virani has created a school curriculum for his former middle school to focus on climate change. He also has hosted workshops and civic events through his religious community and beyond with the same goal in mind. “Recently, I hosted an up-cycling workshop where participants learned about mass consumption and created tote bags from old t-shirts and pillow cases that were decorated and then donated to different homeless shelters in Chicago,” he said.

 

“I hope that, with my work, I can continue to educate people across various age demographics and inspire them to make sustainable changes in their lifestyle and encourage them to educate others. I hope to make a broader impact within my religious community as well as the Chicago area; I courage people to be eco-conscious.”

 

Virani’s climate change push does not impact his hockey … well, not directly.

 

“A lot of lessons and skills I learned from my work have translated to my game, especially accountability and communication,” he said. “A big message of climate activism is for societies to be accountable for their actions that have contributed to environmental degradation and be more eco-conscious. Likewise, on the ice I have to be accountable for my actions. Not every goal I let (in) was just a good shot or a good play, so, I have to honestly assess what I could have done better and look at what I can improve on for the next shot.”

 

In addition, Virani has found a passion in investing, which dates back to middle school.

 

He has read a lot of books on the subject and done online research – investing is his niche, he said.

 

“Going off the principles of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet, I focus on long-term investing in companies that I feel have a great moat, solid financials and are trading below fair value,” he said. “I have developed my own valuation model that helps determine when to buy and sell stocks, though usually I’m looking to hold on to a company for a long time once I’ve bought their shares. With this method I have outpaced the S&P 500 in fiscal year 2023 and 2024 and I am on pace to outperform the Dow Jones and hopefully the S&P 500 as well this year. With an average annual return of 23.3 percent. With this success, I have begun the process of starting my own LLC that would mirror a small-scale investing firm and will hopefully be official by Christmas.”

 

 

Stopping Slapshots With … New Trier White Goalie Armaan Virani

Hobbies: “I love is music, especially rap. I listen to a lot of rap with my favorite artists being J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. I also occasionally produce music.”

Favorite NHL Team: Chicago Blackhawks

Favorite NHL Player: Sergei Bobrovsky

Favorite Sports-themed Movie: Miracle on Ice

Favorite TV Show: Suits

Motivational Song: Love Yourz or Till Infinity, both by J. Cole

Favorite app: Instagram

Celebrity You’d Like To Meet: Connor Bedard

Favorite High School Uniform (other than New Trier): Lake Forest (black)