Bogosian was born to Ike and Vicky Bogosian in Massena , New York , a town of 13,000 adjacent to the Saint Lawrence River . He is the first NHL player of Armenian descent ; his great-grandfather , Stephen Bogosian , left Western Armenia in 1923 at the age of 16 as a result of the Armenian Genocide . At the age of 2 ½ , Bogosian first began to skate . He joined the Massena Minor Hockey Association when he was 3 , staying in the program until he was 14 , when he left for Cushing Academy . Bogosian first began to play defense at the Squirt level ( under-10 ) ; though he was smaller than most of his peers , he was a good skater . He alternated between forward and defense throughout minor hockey . When he began attending Cushing Academy he was a forward the first year , before he converted to a defender full-time . After leaving the school and moving to Canada with two years of high school to complete , Bogosian took courses on the internet
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Zach Bogosian