Sergei Berezin Passes Away

 

Photo From Sportsnet

With the Stanley Cup awarded, I planned to write an article sharing my thoughts on what the Leafs could do this coming weekend at the Entry Draft followed by Free Agency, but sadness has struck Leafs Nation. Wednesday evening the NHL announced that Berezin passed away. He was just 52 years old.

 

Sergei would begin his professional career in the Russian Super League where he would register fifty-three goals and 73 points in four seasons with Voskresensk Khimik. He would then move on to Germany playing 2 seasons in the DEL with Cologne where he would win a League Championship in his first season adding player of the year honors in each of his two seasons in Germany. Berezin would have his name called by the Maple Leafs at the 1994 Draft in the 10^th round, but he wouldn’t join the Leafs until the 96-97 season, and he would have a strong rookie campaign where he would score 25 goals along with 41 points.

As a fan, Berezin was a lot of fun to watch because he was fast and could easily make his way around an opposing defender, and of course, his wrist shot was right up there with the best in the league. Sergei came into the league at a time when small players were usually passed on by General Managers at the time, but Berezin would let his talent and skill level prove that he and his 5-foot-10-inch frame belonged in the league. Sergei Berezin would spend a total of five seasons as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and those five years would be full of memorable moments. One would be in a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes during the 99 season Berezin would register a hat trick where fellow countrymen Igor Korolev collected an assist on all three goals.

Then of course there were the playoffs. Berezin would have a few standout moments and a few that come to mind are his series-clinching goal in Philadelphia in game six where the Leafs were looked at as heavy underdogs against a pretty strong Flyers team. Another for me would be his assist in overtime in the 1999-2000 postseason when he assisted on the Game 5 winning goal from Steve Thomas.

Sergei would see his time with the Leafs end after the 2001 season when that summer he would be traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Mikael Renberg that summer. Unfortunately, his production would begin to drop as he registered just 16 points in 41 games for the Coyotes. The 2002 season would end on a positive note because he would be dealt to Montreal at the end of January that season registering 10 points in the remaining 29 games, but he would appear in the playoffs with Montreal picking up two points in the six-game series that would be won by the eventual cup finalists the Carolina Hurricanes.

Berezin’s final NHL season would be in 2002-2003 where he would split his time between Chicago and Washington after being moved at the deadline where he would once again see the postseason. He would then head back to Russia for the 03-04 season when he would collect 4 points in 16 appearances for CSKA Moscow before retiring.

 

At the time of writing this, there has been no cause of death reported but it doesn’t matter 52 years old is far too young to be losing your life. It goes without saying but my thoughts as well as the thoughts of the many hockey fans who read this are with his family both on and off the ice.

Rest Peacefully, Sergei Berezin.