Seeing double: Arkhip, Filimon Ledziankou’s brotherly bond fuels Birmingham Bulls’ success
- Birmingham Bulls
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor - Shelby County Reporter
Filimon Ledziankou is quick to note that he is five minutes older than his brother Arkhip. These days though, it is rare that they spend five minutes apart.
The Ledziankou twins have been side-by-side in pursuit of their dreams of playing professional hockey in America, leaving their home country of Belarus to live and play thousands of miles away from home.
Now, in their first season as professionals, their bond shines on and off the ice as they continue to adjust to life in America while accomplishing the rare feat of playing for the Birmingham Bulls with the same brother they shared a womb with.
The Ledziankou’s hockey journey started from a very young age when their father took them to a rink in their native Belarus at the age of four to teach them how to skate.
Growing up playing together in eastern Europe played a big role in their development because of the difference between hockey in North America and Belarus, namely a smaller rink in America. The larger rink gave them more time to hang back and wait for plays to develop before passing the puck. The brothers try and fall back on that playstyle even as they’ve adjusted to the game in America.
“Back at home, you play in a bigger sheet of ice, and I think we probably enjoyed it,” Arkhip said. “It’s a little faster-paced game where you don’t have as much ice, even though it’s like a somewhat style that we play. We like to slow down the game, but just making decisions a little quicker, that’s what something that caught us. We enjoyed getting used to it and more hitting in it compared to the European game. It was a bit of an adjustment first year, but I thought we did OK.”
That decision to come to America came when they were 17-and-a-half years old. When the twins decided to immigrate to the United States, they did so knowing that their parents wouldn’t join them. Not having their parents made it hard, but they did have someone familiar to rely on: each other, as the twins decided to pursue their dreams together.
“Just the decision itself came when we were back at home and we decided, like with our family, that we wanted to move away from our country, and obviously it was hard without family, our family stayed back at home, (our) parents, and it was just two of us, but at least we could rely on each other and it was good,” Filimon said.
From there, the Ledziankous played junior hockey together in Missouri and New York before signing to play for the College of St. Scholastica, a Division-III school in the college hockey hotbed of Duluth, Minn. In addition to adjusting to the North American style of hockey, the pair also had to overcome a language barrier as neither of them knew any English before immigrating.
They confided in a friend from Russia who helped them navigate English and the American culture. What helped was that hockey was a universal language to them, and that made everything else secondary.
“(It was) definitely different completely, not knowing where we went and stuff,” Arkhip said. “We didn’t know any English coming here and it was just tough, just getting into the environment and into a culture, but we had a guy from Russia that year which helped us a lot. He taught us a lot, and he was helping us with the language barrier and we just kind of had a goal like to start speaking and like understanding people.”
The pair achieved that goal as they speak fluent English and have adapted well off the rink, and at the same time, they found success on the rink. The Ledziankous played four years at St. Scholastica before graduating and signing their first professional deal with the Birmingham Bulls ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Twin sense
While they had to adjust to understanding people around them, their innate understanding of each other never wavered. The brothers play on the same line under Bulls coach Craig Simchuk, which lets them use their natural chemistry to power the team’s attack.
That chemistry helps them understand where the other is without thinking too much, allowing them to make quick plays and confuse opponents. They also communicate on the ice in their native tongue, which naturally makes it tough for opponents to understand.
“Even on the ice, if you like see us play, we enjoy playing with each other and kind of have a deeper connection compared to if you meet other people, and just being together on ice is easier,” Filimon said. “We know kind of where each one of us go in certain situations or (get a) read of each other.”
As a result, both brothers have played key roles in Birmingham’s success this season. Filimon led the team in regular-season points with 47, and Arkhip was right behind him in a tie for second with the franchise’s all-time SPHL points leader Carson Rose at 43 points.
Arkhip’s 18 goals rank third on the team, while Filimon has the fifth-most goals with 14. However, their biggest impact comes in the passing game as Filimon’s 33 assists are a team-high, and Arkhip has the third-most assists with 25.
What’s more, many of those assists come on each other’s goals as a direct result of their lifelong chemistry. Their success has been rewarded too as the brothers shared the SPHL Player of the Week award for the week of March 24-30 while Filimon won the league’s overall Player of the Month trophy. That came while they helped the Bulls end the regular season on an eight-game win streak and secure the No. 4 seed with home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals.
Cherishing the present
However, one of the Ledziankous’ biggest achievements of the year couldn’t be shared. On Dec. 31, Arkhip was called up to the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings, which play in the third-tier of American hockey ahead of the SPHL and are affiliated with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
When he got the news, he was sitting right next to his brother Filimon, who was not called up. The two talked through the decision, and Filimon encouraged him to go for it even though it would be the first time they would ever play apart from each other.
“Whenever I made that decision, when I got called up, obviously the first person I was talking to Fil because he was right next to me and he said, “Of course you’ve got to go, and it’s not going to be easy doing it alone, but, at the same time, this is the kind of opportunities that doesn’t come very often,’” Arkhip said.
The ECHL stint proved to be short-lived, and he returned to the Bulls lineup within a couple of weeks. Rather than be sad that he couldn’t stay with Kalamazoo, he was so happy to be back in Pelham with Filimon that he went straight from the plane to Birmingham’s game that day.
“It didn’t matter that I didn’t get any rest,” Arkhip said. “It was just nice to be back in the line together and play.” For the twins though, it served as a preview of a reality they both know is coming–a day when they will have to be separated and chase their dreams away from their brother.
Even though living with each other brings its little difficulties, they cherish their unique bond and support each other every step of the way.
“Obviously, there are times where we get sick of each other, being together, living together on a daily basis, but we’re already older and realize that having a brother is unique and that you have to just support each other no matter what because at some point of our lives, we’re going to have to be separated,” Arkhip said.
Rather than dreading the future of being separated, the twins choose to cherish their present life where they get to live and play hockey together, something that many brothers can’t say.
“I think we’re just enjoying being together and being a part of each other’s life and, like Kip said, we’re 25 and there’s a lot of instances where brothers separated at that age already, and just being able to play by each other and to live with each other as much as we can, and just enjoy the things together, I guess we have a bond,” Filimon said.
That said, Filimon couldn’t help getting in a jab at his brother at what life will look like once they move away. “You’ll probably struggle with cooking food, because I cook food for you for the most part,” Filimon said to Arkhip.
Playing for Pelham
The Ledziankous cherish many things about living in Pelham, from living right across from the rink in The Canopy to the much warmer weather compared to Minnesota, New York and Belarus. More than the warmer weather though, they enjoy the warmness of the people in the Birmingham area. Like many who come to the area, they were surprised at how many people loved hockey, cared about the players and wanted to see them do well.
“I think just the way people are here, like friendly, and a lot of people are supportive and care about hockey, like you wouldn’t think when we’re in Minnesota, coming here, we didn’t have like an idea of how much actually people care about hockey, especially the booster club and all of that,” Filimon said.
For him, that makes it easier to go out and play the game that he loves because he sees the thousands of people who fill the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena and feeds off their passion. He also enjoys getting to interact with the many kids at each game and hopes that he and Arkhip can impact the next generation of hockey in central Alabama.
“I think just being here and seeing fans, just like die hard for you as a team and like kids come to the game and being able to meet them at some point, I think it’s what professional hockey’s all about is creating memories and show the next generations, like that they can be here at some point of their careers if they continue to play hockey going forward,” Filimon said.
Now though, as their inaugural professional playoff journey begins, their goal is clear–win the President’s Cup championship. But in the process, they hope to not take a moment for granted as they continue their unique journey through professional hockey in lockstep with the one that they have known for all but five minutes of Filimon’s life.
“(We’re going to) take playoffs round by round and try to be present and try to win as many games as we can and reach the finals,” Arkhip said.
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