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| Arber Xhekaj while on pitch |
A new Albanian name has started a sensational career on the ice field in Canada, precisely in the game of hockey. Arbër Xhekaj, 20 years old born in the city of Hamilton, of Albanian father, has signed a three + year contract with the National Hockey League (NHL), the main league of the popular hockey game in Canada with one of the most famous teams in North America "Montreal Canadiens". Known by various nicknames because of his surname that begins with "Xh", Arbëri has won the hearts of Canadians, but also the Albanian community with the success achieved.
"The Montreal Canadiens had a really good event that came out of their training camp. Arbër Xhekaj was a player that we can say for sure that no fan of the team had heard of before arriving at the team's initial camp in the fall. "At least no one could pronounce his last name or remember how to pronounce it, even if he had seen it," wrote the sports portal Fansided. "This was Arbër Xhekaj, a name so unknown to the fans of the Montreal team when they saw him for the first time in the training camp. Now, Xhekaj is a name that we will get used to seeing because he must be in the Montreal Canadiens organization for a long time"- concludes the sports portal.
In a long article for The Kitchener Record newspaper, sports journalist Josh Brown, entitled "The Evolution of Arbër Xhekaj", talks about his origins. "His father, Jack, is Albanian and comes from Kosovo. He came to Canada as a refugee in 1994, initially living in the Salvation Army in Toronto before moving to Hamilton and finding work at National Steel Car, the country's largest manufacturer of rolling stock. "His mother, Simona, is Czech and left her hometown of Hradec Kralove two years later."
Xhekaj was excellently involved in the beginners' camp, where after this appearance he was asked to participate in the main camp of the team and he performed well there as well.
He last played in the 2019-20 season, when he scored six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 51 games.