Galchenyuk Alex - the young central striker under number 27 of the Montreal Canadiens team. He recently suffered a knee injury that could prevent him from playing at the 2017 World Hockey Championship.
short biography
American hockey player Alexander Alexandrovich Galchenyuk is better known as Alex. Athlete's birthday is February 12th. He was born in 1994 in the USA, in the state of Wisconsin. His mother's name is Inna, his older sister is Anna, and his father is Alexander.
Sasha at the age of 2 years already knew how to skate. His father taught him this, Alexander Nikolaevich, a former hockey player of the national team of Belarus and the USSR. It was dad who instilled in Alex a love of sports. In Wisconsin, he went to training with his son, and after class he allowed him to go out on the ice and drive the puck. Alex Galchenyuk and Alexander Nikolaevich are very similar in nature. Both love punctuality and assertiveness, and are simply obsessed with playing hockey.
The first stages of a sports career
Alex Galchenyuk is a hockey player playing as a central striker. His height is 1 m 85 cm, weight - 88 kg. At the age of sixteen, an American with Belarusian roots fell into the Canadian youth holding Sarnia Sting. So, the athlete made his debut in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) in the 2010/2011 season. For the first year of striker’s career, Alex Galchenyuk spent 68 games, scored 31 goals and scored 83 points.
At the KHL junior draft in 2011, the young hockey player in the second round at No. 25 chose Moscow Atlant. Forward should make a choice between the American and Russian team. In the end, he preferred the U.S. youth team.
Contract with Montreal Canadiens
In the month of June 2012 in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, Alex was a member of the NHL draft. In the first round, under the third number, Montreal Canadiens assigned him to his team. A month after that, the athlete and the hockey club signed a contract for three years. It was a success and a start in the career of a striker in the NHL.
For the 2012–2013 season, Montreal Canadiens Galchenyuk spent 48 games, earned 27 points and scored 9 goals. In 2013/2014, for 65 matches he collected 31 points and scored 13 goals against the opponents. Each next year, the athlete showed the best results. He developed and honed his skills.
In the 2014-2015th in the NHL, he played 80 matches and scored 46 points, and in the 2015-2016th - 82 and 56, respectively. But in the 2016-2017 season, Alex Galchenyuk with “Montreal” was able to hold only 25 games. He earned 23 points and scored 9 goals. When in 2015 the contract with “Canadiens” at Galchenyuk ended, the contract was extended for another two seasons. Hockey player salary reached 3 million dollars a year.
Awards and Achievements
In 2010, being in the Sarnia Sting team, Alexander Galchenyuk first took part in the playoffs. In the hockey system, he also performed as part of the Canadiens: in 2012, 2013, 2014. In total in the playoffs, the athlete played 22 matches, scored 4 goals, scored 10 points.
At the age of sixteen, Alex won his first award. He won the Jack Ferguson Award as a hockey player who was selected in the first place in the OHL Draft (Ontario Hockey League). During his not very long career (6 years), the athlete has achieved a few trophies.
In 2013, the U.S. youth team, which included Alex, also played at the World Hockey Championship in Russia among players no older than 20. The American team then not only reached the finals, but also won the gold medal, winning the battle with Canada. In the same year, at the World Championships in Finland, Galchenyuk became a bronze medalist. The US team reached the semifinals with a team from Switzerland, but lost 0: 3. For third place, the Americans fought with Finland and won by a margin of one point.
Hockey player injuries
At the beginning of the 2012 season, shortly before the start of the draft, Alex Galchenyuk received a serious knee injury. But in just a few months, the athlete completely restored his physical form, once again demonstrating the desire and thirst for hockey. After the operation, he spent a lot of time in the gym. Alex's father helped his son in every possible way, making a training schedule.
In December this year, central striker Montreal Canadiens was injured in the regular NHL championship. Fighting with the Los Angeles Kings team, he suffered knee damage in the 3rd period. The hockey player never returned to the ice. Doctors suggest that he will not be able to play for about three months.
Every year, Alex Galchenyuk flies to his father’s homeland - to Belarus. His grandparents live there. While visiting, the striker not only feasts on his favorite potato pancakes, but also carries out special preparations for the overseas season. Together with his father and grandfather, Alex is engaged in a program of Belarusian training camps.