SHL
Andrey Barbashev II was born with a hockey stick in hand. If you don’t recognize the name, you truly are not a fan of the SHL. His father is a Gold medalist and Challenge Cup champion for the Toronto North Stars. That’s right, Andrey’s dad was part of the team that snapped the Toronto curse and won the one and only Cup in the North Stars franchise. Due to his fathers name ‘Andrey Barbashev’, a lot of teammates and family members over the years call Andrey AB2 and that appears to have stuck. From day one, AB2 remembers being around the rinks and ice. He doesn’t remember it much but he was around for the North Stars cup days and was even part of the parade in Toronto. When AB2 turned 16, you could tell he was going to be a special player. It became even more exciting when AB2 was drafted by the Knights because his dad was a Whaler long ago and still owned property in B.C. Hockey runs in AB2 blood. Right now his focus is trying to win the one thing is father never could and that’s a 4 Star Cup. Regardless if he accomplishes this dream or not, you can tell AB2 will be a special player. Literally born with a hockey stick, he hopes to one day bring the Cup to West Kendall for his dad to relive that championship feeling.