Sergei Sapego’s road from northern Belarus to an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies was paved against seemingly insurmountable circumstances.



When the Prince Albert Raiders claimed Sapego off import waivers from the Tri-City Americans in October 2017, he landed in the middle of Saskatchewan with virtually nothing.



He had a Belarus national team tracksuit, a Tri-City jacket, a small duffle bag of clothes and his hockey equipment.



He couldn’t speak or understand English. Not a word.



Two days earlier, he’d celebrated his 18th birthday in Kennewick, Wash., alone, a couple of weeks after uprooting his life, leaving home and arriving in the United States to pursue his hockey dreams.



A few months before that, he was approached by agent Vlad Shushkovsky at the World Under-18 Championships in Slovakia. Shushkovsky had watched him play twice, first at the Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament and then at worlds. At one, Sapego was a...