Russian talent set a record in the KHL. Six months ago, Ivan fought for his life
Ivan beat cancer and can now focus on hockey.
Ivan Miroshnichenko / Photo: © HC Avangard
For 18 year old Ivan Miroshnichenko 2022 has been an eventful year. The young talent was selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft, made his KHL debut with the Avangard, and has now scored his first top-level goal. However, more recently, he was not up to hockey – the athlete just fought for his life.
Fortunately, the troubles are in the past.
Took the chance
In the regular season match of the Kontinental Hockey League Avangard in Omsk withstood the defeat of Barys, reaching a replay from Astana with a score of 5:2. The contribution to the victory was made by the 18-year-old striker of the “hawks” Ivan Miroshnichenko, who scored his debut puck in the KHL in the 17th minute of the first period.
The increased exit of “Barys” from its zone ended in a loss: the puck was intercepted by Fedor Malykhin. Forward “Avant-garde” immediately made the transfer passed in a more advantageous position Miroshnichenko. Ivan broke into the opponent’s turnout and, not getting close to the goalkeeper of the Astana team, infected Nikita Boyarkin with a wrist throw from a distance. The duel was left to the young player of the Omsk team, who immediately rushed to emotionally celebrate the goal. Thanks to this puck, Ivan became the youngest Avangard goal scorer in KHL history.
The first goal in the Continental Hockey League is a great achievement for Ivan. But still, it was not this event, and not even the debut at the highest level, that became the main victory of the hockey player in 2022. In March, the athlete was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma – in other words, cancer. At that moment, Miroshnichenko discovered that it was not about his national careers – the player’s life was at stake.
Fortunately, the story ended well for the Russian – in early June, news came of Ivan’s victory over the disease. Moreover, he is allowed to return to training, so that the player can already start on the ice. Miroshnichenko took advantage of the chance and made his debut in the KHL as part of Avangard. To date, he managed to play seven matches for the team, but for the time being he failed to excel. In the match with Barys, we finally managed to resolve the issue with the first goal. Now let’s expect that the young “hawk” will continue to delight hockey fans based on permanent memory.