Chris Cook has outfitted players of all shapes and sizes over his 25 years as an equipment manager in professional and junior hockey. Two decades ago, while working for the Ottawa Senators, it was his job to gear up Zdeno Chara, the biggest player in NHL history.
When the 6-foot-9 Chara left Ottawa, Cook was sure he’d never see anyone like the future Hall of Fame defenseman again.
But next week, when training camp opens for the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs, someone even larger will duck into Cook’s training room for the first time.
His name is Alexander Karmanov, and he stands 7 feet tall — off skates — and weighs 277 pounds. He’s not just bigger than Chara, he’s three inches taller and more than 20 pounds heavier — heavier even than all but seven NBA players last season. He’s the biggest hockey player in the world, already good enough to have been drafted into the major junior ranks of the OHL and the USHL, and to have verbally committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Penn State.
And he’s only 17 years old.
