WHEN you’re growing up as a hockey player, you try to figure out if you’re going to be a goalscorer, a playmaker, a defensive player or a big hitter.

I’ve always tried to work on all of those aspects but how I became a player that’s good at putting in big hits is a bit of a funny story.

I come from a Russian-Kazakh hockey background and it was all about skill and speed over there, and there wasn’t much focus on the physical side of the game.

When I was growing up in Kazakhstan, it was around the fall of communism, so there wasn’t a lot of money around – most things had to be paid for by our parents, and they didn’t have much money either.

When we practiced, we had 20 players but we only had five sticks.

We could get away with that when we had matches because every player would come off their shift and pass a stick on to the equivalent player but it made it hard during practice.

We were going out and scrimmaging without sticks and the only way to get the puck from somebody was to put in a tackle or a big hit.

I left Kazakhstan when I was 16, so it’s something that became a part of my game.

I used to try and watch the NHL as much as I could because it’s such an unbelievable league and it’s probably the most physical league in the world because it’s where you see all the fights and the big hits.

I would never go out to try and hurt another player and I always make sure that the hit is clean and within the rules of the game – that’s important.

In a lot of leagues across the world, it’s something that’s being taken away from the game because of the injuries.

Fans like to see it and we are an entertainment business. Putting in a big hit feels as good as scoring a goal or making a good pass.

We’re playing Telford this weekend and it’s going to be weird because I’ve never played against an old team before – whenever I’ve left before, I’ve gone to a new league.

They look like the top team in this league and I’m looking forward to it.