Alex wasn't quite the natural born hockey player as one might expect contrary to his older brother Eduard. His older brother installed some important values in Alex though which helped Alex become the hockey player he is now. He wasn't the best Skater as a young kid but had an incredible work ethic and decided to step into his older brother's footsteps in getting drafted to the SMJHL and then subsequently to the SHL. Alex tried to emulate his brother from the get go and was more of a scorer than his brother but once it was apparent that he would easily eclipse his older brother in height he decided to focus a bit more on the defensive side of his game and developed that part to become a disruptive force without laying down due to his enormous range. Alex paths was quite interesting if you compare him to his older brother... Alex was drafted high in the SMJHL and lower in the SHL which was quite the opposite of his older brother who was drafted low in the SMJHL but then drafted high in the SHL.