Alex Winters was born abroad in the suburbs of Pardubice, Czechia. Growing up, he was highly criticized in school for his very un-Czech last name, a byproduct of his Canadian father along with his Czech mother. Alex, in an effort to be less teased by his classmates, joined his local hockey and soccer teams, playing forward and goalkeeper respectively. He was quite good at both, earning tryout and signing as an academy student for FC Pardubice for three years between the ages of 10 and 13. After leaving the FC Pardubice academy by his own volition, Alex applied and was accepted to North Indiana Prep, where he attended high school for 4 years, graduating at 17 before being drafted by the Colorado Raptors in the fourth round. Despite his obvious talent which showed with almost 70 points in 40 games as a senior, there were concerns that European soccer would come calling for Winters, leading to his slide in the draft. He chose hockey in the end, the Raptors got a steal at 31, and Winters turned that into being a first round pick in the SHL draft and currently represents the Czechs as Captain of the national team. WC: 199