Playing Career
Volchenkov grew up in Moscow and began attending the CSKA hockey school at the age of six. Around time when he was in fourth grade, his family moved to Kiev, Ukraine and he began attending the Sokil Kyiv hockey school, as his uncle became the director of that school. After a year in Kiev, Volchenkov returned to the CSKA program in Moscow.
Volchenkov was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the first round as the 21st overall selection in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. In the 2002–03 NHL season, he came to North America and played the entire season with the Senators. He is known for his fearless attitude towards other players and the puck, and is generally considered to be amongst the toughest players in the league. In his early days playing in Europe, he played goaltender. However, his coach instructed him to play defence, which may help explain why he led the NHL in blocked shots in 2006–07 by a large margin. He is consistently amongst the top shot blockers and hitters.
Read more about this topic: Anton Volchenkov
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