Artem grew up in a small town in Russia where his father Anton ran the cities most popular pub, he is taller and stands 6'8" and that's where his height came from. When Artem was younger he used to carry crates of liquor and shine tables for his father, helping him learn work ethic at the age of 9. As he got older he started to watch ice hockey on T.V. and became very fond of it but that was odd in his household, his uncle Timofey played professional basketball and everybody was focused on that so whenever he would bring it up his family would laugh and tell him to join "real sport". When Artem was old enough he joined the local ice hockey team and started mimicking what he saw on the television screen, he didn't get much time because he had to help out at the pub but by the age 16 he was outplaying grown men and won MVP for leading the league in points, it only consisted of villages close by but it was a huge accomplishment and mood booster for Artem who wanted to make it professional and make hockey a "real sport" in his family. If it wasn't for the fame his uncle the scouts probably wouldn't recognize Artem but taking his game to the next level in a different sport was enough and the same scout that got Timofey into the NBA told SMJHL's Whalers that Artem was worth picking up.. and the rest is history!

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