Anton Babchuk

Babchuk was a first round selection, 21st overall, of the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and played for the Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Calgary Flames in his NHL career. He also played with Ak Bars Kazan, SKA Saint Petersburg, Avangard Omsk, HC Donbass, Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (formerly the Russian Super League).\n', '

Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, Babchuk began playing hockey at the age of three. He began his training with the Sokil Kyiv junior hockey affiliate, a team which included fellow future Ukrainian NHLer Nikolai Zherdev. He played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a youth team from Kiev. While participating in the tournament, Babchuk\'s team found itself competing against a team from Elektrostal, Russia. The rival team\'s coach, Ravil Iskakhov, took note of both Bab…