Rodion Amirov's KHL team makes major announcement regarding their fallen brother
This week got off to a horrendous start with the announcement that Maple Leafs prospect Rodion Amirov had passed away after a year-and-a-half long battle with brain cancer. Amirov was just 21 at the time of his passing and as the hockey world comes together to mourn his loss, a few amazing things have happened. A memorial has been set up outside of Ufa-Arena, Rodion's home rink in the KHL, another KHL team, St. Petersburg SKA, donated a million rubles to Amirov's family - the team's prize for winning the Sochi Hockey Open, and messages of love and support have rolled in from all over the world.
Earlier this week, The Score's Kyle Cushman had proposed the idea of the Leafs retiring Amirov's unofficial Maple Leafs jersey number (#72), and hanging a banner from the rafters at Scotiabank Arena as a way of honouring Amirov and never allowing anyone in the Leafs organization or Leafs Nation to forget him. As many are aware, Amirov wore the number 27 for his KHL club, but since that number is already retired in Toronto in honour of Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler, #72 was expected to be Amirov's jersey number in Toronto.
So far, the Leafs have not announced any such event or anything else publicly, so we don't yet know what the team has in store to honour Amirov. However, his KHL club, Salavat Yulayev, has made a major announcement regarding their fallen soldier.
Per Rinat Bashirov, general director for Salavat Yulayev, the team will be removing Amirov's #27 from circulation, effectively retiring Amirov's jersey at the team's first home game on September 11th.
Last season, the Leafs had Amirov present at Scotiabank Arena for the team's home opener against the Washington Capitals, honouring him before the game during his courageous fight against cancer. I'd imagine that there will be some form of a special pre-game memorial service at this year's home opener as well. Personally, though, I'd love it if their event for Amirov had some sort of a banner-raising or a jersey retirement at a part of it, much like what Salavat Yulayev is doing for the 21-year-old on September 11th.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 17 | 223 ANSWERS Rodion Amirov's KHL team makes major announcement regarding their fallen brother Should the Leafs retire Amirov's unofficial Leafs jersey number (#72)? | ||
| Yes | 54 | 24.2 % |
| No | 103 | 46.2 % |
| Just hang a banner for him at SBA | 66 | 29.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
