The Toronto Maple Leafs faced off against the New Jersey Devils tonight at the Scotiabank Arena, which the Devils won 6-5 late with a goal in the third. However, during the game, the Maple Leafs honoured the late Rodion Amirov. The family of Amriov was on the big screen, and the fans gave them a very emotional standing ovation.
Amirov was only 21 years young when he passed away from his battle with brain cancer. This came as a shock to many fans in Leafs’ land. The fan base and NHL world knew that he had been battling cancer, but it was very unexpected when the Maple Leafs organization and his agent Dan Millstein announced his passing on Aug. 14, 2023.
Amirov was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL entry draft with the 15th pick in the first round. There was a lot of hype surrounding him due to his talent and the team’s direction. Unfortunately, he and former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer on Feb. 23, 2022, just two seasons after being drafted. Sadly, he could never fulfill his dream of playing in the NHL. However, during 2022-2023, the club flew Amirov over to Toronto, and when they introduced the opening night roster, they called his name as part of the team, and he was shown on TV waving to the fans.
Tonight, though, it was his family’s moment to be honoured. They were shown up on the big screen with his jersey in hand and were brought to tears by the support of the fan base and the organization, which was a very classy move by the Maple Leafs. Head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about it after the game, to which he said, “Quite the moment, they should be coming here to watch their son play in the NHL.” Such a simple statement from Keefe but with such a heavy meaning: is it truly heartbreaking that Amirov lost his battle to cancer and he and his family were unable to watch him play in the NHL.