Wikipedia/SHL
Player Name:
1. Early Life:

Martijn Westbroek was born in Holland, Netherlands to a working father and stay at home mother, neither with any background whatsoever in the world of hockey. Martijn's father fell asleep on the recliner one night and young Martijn ended up on the Dutch version of Sportscentre where he saw an old highlight of the S13 Manhattan Rage playing and immediately fell in love with the game of hockey. He idolized players like Nike Kickz and knew what he wanted to be in the future. Martijn took to the game quickly, but his career took a bump when his father was relocated to Japan when he was 8 for work-related reasons. Westbroek joined their traveling team among other young Japanese stars like Taro Tsujimoto and continued to hone his game on the ice. Knowing that he was destined for greater things, Martijn's parents allowed him to move to Canada at the age of 15 to play for the London Knights, an Ontario Hockey League team, where Westbroek quickly became a star while playing on a line with Robert Thomas and Cliff Pu. It was an unconventional path, but one that could make for a great story as Westbroek continues to make his way into the SHL.