Dion Fanef is a very famous Canadian hockey player. He was born in Edmonton on April 10, 1985. His parents are ordinary people. His father, Paul, was a builder, and his mother, Amber, was a nurse. Dion also has a younger brother. He is also a hockey player defending the honor of Sherwood Park Crusaders HC. I would like to talk about Dione in more detail.
early years
Hockey Fanef was fond of from early childhood. He liked how to play and watch matches on TV. As a child, he supported the Edmonton Oilers team. And he especially admired the way Wayne Gretzky played , a little later he was imbued with Scott Stevenson.
Dion Fanef was born in a friendly family, so his parents supported his hobby for hockey. Each winter, the boy’s father filled the rink with his own hands right in the courtyard of the house and studied with his son, helping him with the training. Fanef Sr. taught the young hockey player to play in a forceful, aggressive manner, which is characteristic of this sport. Paul recalled that his son sometimes had such a powerful blow that the puck sent by his club punched the net.
But his mother taught him to skate. Amber had good success in this matter. In 1975, for example, she went from Prince Edward Island (where she came from) to the Canadian Games to compete in figure skating.
Carier start
Dion Fanef was selected in 2000 by the Red Deer Rebels club (in the third round of the ZHL draft). And in 2001, his debut took place. For the first season, he managed to score 17 points, given that he played in 67 meetings. As part of the playoffs, Dion spent 21 matches for the club, and even gave two assists.
Next season, success was better. He scored 30 points, earning them 16 goals scored and 14 assists. Largely thanks to him, Red Deer managed to reach the final in that season (second time in a row). Dion Fanef surprised with his game. All people who watched his style, noted the attention of excellent physical qualities and versatility. After all, the Canadian managed to play not only in defense, but also in attack.
In the first round of the 2003 draft, his special attention was noted by Darryl Sutter, who is the general manager of the Calgary Flames HC. In the 2003/2004 season, the young man scored 43 points in 62 matches, which made him the best defender of the ZHL. And next year he managed to score 56 points for 55 (!) Games, and this success repeatedly led him to this title. He twice entered the KHL and ZHL All-Star Teams, and Prospects Hockey recognized the young man as the best KHL player in 2004 and 2005.
KHL
Dion Fanef (a hockey player with great prospects) joined Calgary Flames in the 2005/2006 season. He sent the first goal to the opponents five weeks after the debut. In general, for the season he scored 49 points, which made him the third in the history of the NHL rookie-defender, who scored 20 goals.
The next season, the result was almost the same. 50 points, of which 17 goals and 33 assists. Then he was first invited to the All-Star Game. In the 2007/2008 season, he signed a contract with Calgary for 6 years and then set a personal record for the number of points (60).
The following year was unsuccessful. Only 47 points and 11 goals. But on the ice he spent a lot of time - an average of 27 minutes per game, and this is the 4th indicator in the League. Bad results were attributable to injuries. Dion suffered from a hip injury during the season, and then also broke a rib.
Further activities
In the middle of the 2009/2010 season, the hockey player left the ranks of Calgary. Dion Fanef, whose photo is presented above, joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. For 25 games, he scored only one goal, which is why he was called the most overrated league hockey player. But the club management said that Dion has a positive effect on the team. He improved the general mood of hockey players, rallied everyone, which is also an excellent result in some way.
In the 2011/2012 season, he took second place in the ranking of the toughest players in the history of the NHL. Over the past year, it has indeed been removed too many times. And in 2012/2013. he helped the club finally get into the playoffs.
In the next season, more and more talk began to appear about the hockey player moving to another club. And in February 2016, defender Dion Fanef left Toronto. Ottawa Senators has become his new team, the colors of which he now defends.
Interesting Facts
The hockey player showed himself well in the national team. His debut took place as part of the youth World Cup 2004. And in 2008, he already played at the World Cup in Moscow. Then the Canadian team won the World Cup without losing to the Finns in the final. Dion made his undoubted contribution to the victory, because for the entire Championship he gave 8 assists.
Interestingly, Fanef is not only a hockey player. He is the official representative of the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary. Fanef distributes tickets for the Flames games to families of sick people and is often present at charity evenings.
By the way, the hockey player has a wife, and this is a famous Canadian actress named Elisha Katberg, with whom they married in 2013. The girl, by the way, is a passionate fan. In 2005, she even got a blog on the NHL website. And three years later, she met Dion.