Samvel Mnatsyan is a 29-year-old Russian hockey player from Omsk. He played in the Continental Hockey League for such clubs as Avangard, Neftekhimik, Admiral. One of the best power defenders in the League. In May 2018, the player moved to Siberia, but two months later he was admitted to the hospital with oncology. He died on October 6, 2019.
Biography
Samvel Rubikovich Mnatsyan is from the Siberian city of Omsk. Born March 5, 1990 in a family of athletes. Samvel's younger brother, 26-year-old David Mnatsyan, also chose the profession of a hockey player - he plays for the Perm club "Molot-Prikamye".
Carier start
Samvel began his hockey career in his hometown, in the Avangard club. He played in junior and minor teams as a defender, but never made it to the senior league.
After spending a season with the Omsk Hawks from the youth hockey league, Mnatsyan moved to the Czech Republic. In 2010-2011 he played for the Kladno team in the Czech Extraliga. In total, he played seven matches with the Czech club, but did not score any points.
In 2011 he moved to Kazakhstan, where he joined the Arlan club in the city of Kokshetau. He played with this team at the Kazakhstan Ice Hockey Championship in 2011.
Joining the KHL
In 2012, Samvel Mnatsyan joined the Kontinental Hockey League and signed a contract with the Barys club from Astana.
In 2013, the hockey player moved to HC Neftekhimik in Nizhnekamsk. He spent two seasons with the club. During this time, he twice played for the Higher Hockey League with the team "Neftyanik Almetyevsk". In 2014 he was sent to Perm, where he played for the Molot-Prikamye team. Mnatsyan played eight games with the Permians. The younger brother of the hockey player David now plays for Hammer-Prikamye.
On June 25, 2015 Mnatsyan signed a contract with HC Admiral in Vladivostok. He played with this hockey club for three years: he spent 141 meetings, scored 3 goals, made 8 assists, earned 224 penalty minutes, made 336 power tricks and blocked opponent's throws 176 times. Samvel himself admitted in an interview that the seasons spent with the "Admiral" were the best in his career.
On May 26, 2018, after three seasons with the Vladivostok club, Mnatsyan signed a two-year contract as a free agent with HC Sibir in Novosibirsk.
According to the contract, his rights belong to the club for two years. The hockey player did not have time to play for Siberia.
Professional achievements
One of the best defenders in the Kontinental Hockey League. He is in 22nd place in the KHL statistics - 325 hits. In total, he played 183 matches with a score of 13 points.
Tragedy
In August 2018, Samvel was diagnosed with a serious cancer. As a result of a blow to the back at one of the hockey competitions, a tumor appeared on the 6th vertebra. In just a few months, she developed into a malignant formation, gave metastases to the liver.
The young hockey player went to Germany for a consultation, where the diagnosis of cancer was confirmed at a medical consultation. In Freiburg, he took courses in radiation therapy and chemistry. The whole family was with Samvel in a difficult time for him: the hockey player's mother, wife Eugene and two-year-old son Joseph came to Germany. Mnatsyan continued to work out in the gym and felt good. He commented optimistically on his condition in an interview with the news outlet Sport 24.
The Board of Trustees of the Kontinental Hockey League provided financial support, and the hockey club where Mnatsyan played opened a fund to help its player. Charity matches were held all over Russia. The match, organized by the Kontinental Hockey League trade union, raised 1.3 million rubles for treatment. Club "Admiral", for which Mnatsyan in 2015-2018, collected 1.26 million.
Friends and colleagues helped. Vladislav Tretyak, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and a famous Soviet player, put up his sweater for auction - the proceeds were sent to Samvel's relatives.
In 2019, the hockey player's health condition worsened. In the summer, doctors still predicted improvements, but on October 6, 2019, Samvel Mnatsyan passed away.
