Full translated interview with Rodion Amirov’s agent

**Someone mentioned in the free talk thread about this heartbreaking interview with Rodion’s agent so I put in the deepL translator for others to read it. As mentioned, the Russian domain is blocked, but the full article is linked (somewhat clumsily) at the bottom of [this](https://www.bladeofsteel.com/Agent-Details-Amirov-Agonizing-Final-Months-How-Leafs-and-KHL-team-helped-266092) article.**

*A terrible misfortune came to the hockey world. On Monday, Rodion Amirov, a forward for Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Toronto Maple Leafs NHL club, passed away at the age of 21.*
*His agent Dan Milstein was by his side until his last days. He told Match TV what a courageous fight the young athlete fought against a deadly disease.*

*Very hard news, it’s hard to talk. Tell us the details of Rodion’s last days….*

The worsening of the disease happened in October 2022. At that time, doctors in Toronto gave Rodion only six months. It was a fourth-degree cancer – a brain tumor.

He returned to Russia, where doctors in Skolkovo fought for his life for another 10 months. But two weeks ago, they were powerless. Then they came to the decision to take Rodion to Germany, where there was a last, ghostly chance for treatment. And now he was gone…

But the boy fought on. For a year and a half, since February 2022, no matter how bad it was for him, when he could not walk and lost his sight, he never complained about anything.

He came to Toronto in October, not just to get treatment, but to train. He really wanted to get back into hockey. As I remember, I got a call from Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas along with Canadian doctors at 1:18 a.m.: “Come get the boy, accompany him to his home country. If you don’t get him now, he may never come home again.” It got very serious…..

We drove from the airport to my place in Miami to pack. We spent two days at the beach so the guy could unwind. I asked him, “Rodion, how are you?” – “I’m fine, more worried about my parents.”

He only thought of others. He didn’t whine, he fought. And he tried to face each day with a positive attitude, with a smile. Although he lost his eyesight about six months ago and couldn’t walk.

*I know that Toronto and Salavat Yulaev fought for Amirov, provided help.*

Yes, the clubs did what they could. As much as possible to make him feel comfortable. Ufa gave Rodion a contract for next season, knowing full well that he would never play hockey again. Until the very last second he was a member of the team, feeling like a real hockey player.

When I visited Rodion, I told him all the latest news, gossip of the hockey world, who signed what contract, what was going on. He was completely in the loop and loved the news.

When the NHL held cancer campaigns, all the Russian hockey players wrote on a purple sheet: “Amirov”. The AHL team from Toronto, where guys don’t make a lot of money, chipped in and handed over six thousand dollars.

Many guys from Ufa came to see him. He was always communicating with Salavat Yulaev players. Rodion lived in a rented apartment in the capital. His parents tried to entertain him by taking him to different restaurants in Moscow, where he met his friends. And when Captain Grisha Panin came to visit him, he offered his apartment for Rodion to live there.

A lot of people from the hockey world, from the NHL, were constantly calling, asking questions, inquiring, wondering and supporting in every way they could.

*When was the last time you saw him?*

Last week – we met in Munich, where he was undergoing treatment. Rodion fought hard, never once feeling sorry for himself. I told him cheekily to cheer him up: “Listen, I’m an agent, we are only interested in money. Come on, stop being sick – get on the ice, get back in the game. We need to do business.” We laughed at the joke then. He was smiling again, although in the last week he couldn’t hold his head up. The condition was dire, the disease was winning.

But when he was given six months in October 2022, and they passed, in April 2023, Rodion said with a laugh, “Well, these Canadian doctors don’t know anything. Here I am, here, alive – and they’ve already buried me.” Every day he lived was like a feat. He waged this struggle with courage and fortitude.

*It was written that the cancer was provoked by a blow against the board during a hockey game. Is that true?*

That’s not true, that game had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, cancer is unpredictable. When the disease was discovered, it was already stage four – and in a place where surgery is impossible.

*What was his ultimate dream?*

Dubas really wanted to fulfill that dream – for Rodion to play in the NHL. After all, the Maple Leafs selected him at the 2020 draft in the first round at number 15. And when Amirov came to Canada last fall, there was a preseason game of Toronto against Ottawa.

Dubas had already made an agreement with the Senators, Rodion was going to go out on the ice and play as much as he could. We had already arranged visas for his parents to fly to Canada, too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t manage it. He didn’t have enough strength, his coordination wasn’t right – he couldn’t stand on his skates. But you can find photos of Rodion waving to the audience and hockey players in the arena.

*Where will he be buried?*

Now we are dealing with logistics to transport Rodion from Germany to Ufa. It will take a few days.

*Match TV expresses its sincere condolences to Amirov’s family and everyone who is shocked by this tragedy.*

Thank you. And I will say again that we will always remember Rodion’s courage, his desire to live, his will and his smile. We loved him very much. He will always be with us in our memories.

by carouselofgoalies