Israeli-Canadian hockey player Sherbatov details journey home from Ukraine

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Israeli-Canadian hockey player Eliezer Sherbatov, a left wing for HC Mariupol of the Ukrainian Hockey League, was at a hotel on the road in Druzhkivka last Thursday when he and his teammates heard a bomb go off outside their hotel.

Sherbatov, who played two seasons in the QMJHL in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and was in his first season with the eastern Ukraine-based team, was quickly summoned with his teammates to a meeting, where the head coach told his players the war had begun.

Sherbatov, 30, then travelled across Ukraine over the next five days, eventually crossing the border to Poland before getting on a flight to Toronto.

He spoke with TSN on Tuesday about his journey through war-torn Ukraine back home to Montreal. 

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

TSN: How are you feeling right now?

Sherbatov: “I’m overwhelmed. I’m exhausted. I just came back a couple of hours ago from this long trip. I’m very exhausted. I haven’t eaten or slept in the past days. So, just to see your family and familiar faces, it’s starting to get better.”

TSN: What has the past two weeks been like for you and what was your journey from Ukraine, crossing borders, and back home to Canada?

Sherbatov: “To be honest, it’s a long journey. My team is situated in Mariupol which, as of today, has been taken by the Russians. But we had a game in Kramatorsk, which is also north of Mariupol, which is Donetsk Oblast, which has military bases and have the Russian tanks. There’s war waging there, where it started. We had a game there. We’re driving by bus, five hours north of Mariupol and we stopped at our hotel in Druzhkivka. I’m ready to play my hockey game. I’m ready to win, going to bed at the hotel. For me, I have