Jersey Fan 12
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LD Arber Xhekaj - Kitchener Rangers, OHL (2019 Undrafted Signed by Habs 3 y ELC)
- Thread starter Jersey Fan 12
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LeProspector
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If he makes it, will be the first hockey player in history (possibly even in all major sports) with the letter ‘X’ as the first letter in his name to make the show, i’m definitely rooting for him!
Jersey Fan 12
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ozo
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Here's a quote from an article on Rangers website: "While he can thank his Albanian father for his surname, Xhekaj is officially a dual citizen of Canada and the Czech Republic due to his mother’s heritage"
The same article calls Czech Republic a Baltic country so there's also that
Coaches Coroner
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Having seen him play, his skating and puck handling and confidence shooting and getting it through has improved a lot. He's always been physical but one area that had started to become a problem was discipline, but that seemed to round out as the season went along. He seems to enjoy fighting and is solid at it. Real through back defender. Don't think he'll get drafted but I could see him possibly getting signed as an FA if his trajectory continues upward next season.
Jersey Fan 12
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Having season tickets to the Kitchener Rangers I have watched him play live many times.
He was by far the most improved player on the Rangers. He has good size, a physical streak, can fight and has a decent slap shot.
Put it this way; he is my seven year old son’s favourite Ranger. He is fun to watch.
With today’s NHL at absolute max he could be a bottom pair physical defender. I think the game may be a bit too fast for him. Now if this was 1990’s NHL he would be much more highly sought after.
He was by far the most improved player on the Rangers. He has good size, a physical streak, can fight and has a decent slap shot.
Put it this way; he is my seven year old son’s favourite Ranger. He is fun to watch.
With today’s NHL at absolute max he could be a bottom pair physical defender. I think the game may be a bit too fast for him. Now if this was 1990’s NHL he would be much more highly sought after.
montreal
Go Habs Go
congrats on signing his 3 year ELC with the Habs, has been loaned back to Kitchener today.
Coaches Coroner
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Excited that he'll be back. He's a tough customer. His skating made decent strides consistently over his first 2 seasons. His puck handling and passing improved very well over the two years, from lower than average at the OHL level to being quite solid and reliable. He's going to get good opportunity to work on his game in the offensive end of the ice. His defensive game is solid and his phyiscality is a major strength.
Bubbles
Die Hard for Bedard 2023
Cheering for him only because he would be the first NHLer with a surname that starts with X.
Toughest kid in the OHL. He just looks better every game that he plays. To be an invite as a free agent to Kitchener camp and make it…that’s a good enough story. Then he goes undrafted in the NHL and gets an invite to the Habs. Has a solid camp and earns a contract. Great story and if the kid keeps improving not a doubt in my mind he will be a NHLer one day. Been following the Rangers for 25 years and I can’t recall a player that just keeps getting better as much as him. He is a fan favorite in Kitchener simply for how hard he works. If I’m picking captain 100% I’m picking him for the Rangers.
He looked good in montreal and played well in some exhibition games. Was very physical in a game vs ottawa.
Its actually very simple but very surprising. Jack-Eye. I don’t believe it but that’s how it’s pronounced.
The -eye part makes plenty of sense. The Xh surprised me at being a J sound.
The one that always got me in school was a kid whose last name was Jajcaj, but pronounced Jay-See. Eastern European phonetics, right?
Unfriendly Ghost
Kasper
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He told a reporter in Kitchener you basically pronounce it backwards, and with the X-silent. Jack-eye as mentioned above.
I don't think it's exactly J; one suggestion I saw was like the dg in edge.
Virtually every Eastern European language has phonetic pronunciation and that's probably not how it's supposed to be pronounced in Czech/Slovak or whatever it was (j is pronounced like y in most Slavic languages, c like ts, and a like a or u depending on if it had a diacritic or not). Meanwhile, good luck to non-native speakers trying to guess how a random English name is pronounced.
Stive Morgan
Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
He's already a fan favourite on HFHabs too lol. Hard working player with a great story.
All the way back to the St. Catharines Falcons l noticed a rookie with a name that l could not pronounce. So started to see even then he was aggressive, fearless but was young and had to develop on plenty of his game. TBH never thought he would make OHL. He proved me wrong, yet now I like the way he has improved and find myself following his career.
Congrats, keep up the good work.
