Canadiens' Arber Xhekaj name pronunciation is nothing like you'd expect

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Arber Xhekaj is getting himself noticed during these NHL playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens.

His physical, verging-on-violent style of play is hard to miss, and so his name has been in the spotlight -- including for a fine for a punch after the final buzzer on Sabres center Sam Carrick.

And that name -- well, it's not pronounced how you'd think.

To be fair, it's not an easy one to take a guess at, either.

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Xhekaj is from Hamilton, Ontario, but the last name appears to have Russian roots.

It can be a bit disconcerting the first time you hear a broadcast saying his name and then talking about the guy with Xhekaj on the back of his sweater, because it doesn't seem to add up.

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How do you pronounce Arber Xhekaj?​

His last name is pronounced like "JACK-eye."

The 'X' is a silent letter, and then the other letters carry themselves as two syllables that still don't seem that much like the way they're spelled.

But it's not an Anglicized name, and so it has its native pronunciation.

It has definitely been written about before. The Hamilton Spectator once wrote a story with the headline, "You may not know how to pronounce Xhekaj now. But you will."

The whole hockey world is learning it in these playoffs.

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