Despite having made it through four rounds of chemo, Leafs prospect Rodion Amirov may not yet be in the clear
Leafs Nation was rattled early this year by the announcement that 2020 15th overall pick Rodion Amirov had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. In the months that followed, Amirov had traveled to Germany to undergo treatments, which included four rounds of chemotherapy.
Amirov surprised everyone when he arrived in Toronto this fall to work with the team's trainers and take part in team activities, including meetings involving all of the players, and he even got to be around the team for the home opener, was announced with the scratches before the game and, thanks to Ilya Samsonov, was able to meet his idol, Alexander Ovechkin.
While the initial reports on Amirov were all positive, the 21-year-old recently traveled back to Russia, presumably to continue working his way towards an eventual return. Originally, Amirov had hoped to be back at some point in October or November, but some comments by Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe on Saturday regarding "Hockey Fights Cancer" have definitely raised some concerns.
Keefe did not provide any sort of an update on Amirov. In all fairness, he may not know the full extent of what Amirov is dealing with. The fact that he chose to use the words "he has a big fight on his hands here", though, could be telling. After four rounds of treatment, the hope is that the fight might be close to over and that Amirov was in recession. Keefe indicating that the fight is still ongoing is concerning, to say the least.
Naturally, we'll have to await an update before we can know for sure what's going on with Amirov's health, but we'll continue to cross our fingers and offer our thoughts and prayers to Amirov and his family as he continues to fight.
