Samvel Mnatsyan (5 March 1990 – 6 October 2019) was a Russian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. Throughout his career, he competed in the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

(KHL), playing for teams such as

Barys Astana Hockey Club Barys ( ), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey club based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is one of the founding members ...

HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk () is a professional ice hockey club based in Nizhnekamsk, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Neftekhimik was founded October 23, 1968 by workers of the Ni ...

, and

Admiral Vladivostok Hockey Club Admiral, also known as Admiral Vladivostok, () is a professional ice hockey club based in Vladivostok, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Admiral play its home games at Fetisov ...

Playing career

Mnatsyan started his hockey career with

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Omsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Franchise history Early years of Omsk hock ...

, his hometown club, competing for their junior and affiliate teams but never making an appearance for the senior squad. Following a season with

Omskie Yastreby Hockey Club Avangard (, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Omsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Franchise history Early years of Omsk hoc ...

in the

Junior Hockey League Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

(MHL), he took his career abroad to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, joining

HC Kladno HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc ...

in the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

for the

2010–11 Czech Extraliga season The 2010–11 Czech Extraliga season was the 18th season of the Czech Extraliga since its creation after the breakup of Czechoslovakia and the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League in 1993. In the regular season, HC Oceláři Třinec finished atop ...

. During his time there, he played in seven games without registering any points. In 2011, he relocated to Kazakhstan to play for

Arlan Kokshetau Arlan Hockey Club (, ) commonly referred as Arlan Kokshetau, is a professional ice hockey team based in Kokshetau, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2009, they play in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship, the top level of ice hockey in Kazakhstan. The team a ...

in the

Kazakhstan Hockey Championship The Pro Hokei Ligasy, commonly referred to as ''Kazakhstan Hockey Championship'', is the highest level of ice hockey in Kazakhstan. Founded in 1992, eleven teams from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan compete to win the Kazakhstan Hockey Cup. Teams ...

. The next year, he advanced to the

(KHL) by signing with

. In 2013, Mnatsyan joined

, where he spent two seasons, also playing part-time in the

Supreme Hockey League The All-Russian Hockey League (VHL) (, ''Vserossiyskaya hokkeinaya liga (VHL)''), also known as the Major Hockey League or Higher Hockey League (HHL), is a professional ice hockey league in Eurasia, and the second highest level of Russian hocke ...

(VHL) with

Molot-Prikamye Perm Molot-Prikamye Perm () is a professional ice hockey team based in Perm, Perm Krai, Russia. They are playing in the Supreme Hockey League The All-Russian Hockey League (VHL) (, ''Vserossiyskaya hokkeinaya liga (VHL)''), also known as the Majo ...

and

Neftyanik Almetyevsk Neftyanik Almetyevsk is an ice hockey team in Almetyevsk, Russia. They play in the VHL, the Supreme Hockey League, which is the second level of Russian ice hockey. History The club was founded in 1965 as Sputnik. In 1986, they were renamed Nefty ...

. On June 25, 2015, he continued his KHL career by signing with

. After spending three seasons with Admiral Vladivostok, Mnatsyan departed the club after the 2017–18 season and signed a two-year deal with

HC Sibir Novosibirsk Hockey Club Sibir Novosibirsk Oblast (, ), also known as HC Sibir or Sibir Novosibirsk, is a professional ice hockey club based in Novosibirsk, Russia. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Ice ...

as a free agent on 26 May 2018. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with cancer before making an appearance for the team and, tragically, passed away from the illness on 6 October 2019.

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mnatsyan, Samvel 1990 births 2019 deaths 21st-century Russian sportsmen Admiral Vladivostok players Arlan Kokshetau players Barys Astana players Deaths from cancer in Russia Ethnic Armenian sportspeople Expatriate ice hockey players in Kazakhstan HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players Ice hockey people from Omsk Molot-Prikamye Perm players Neftyanik Almetyevsk players Nomad Astana players Omskie Yastreby players Place of death missing Russian expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Russian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Russian ice hockey defencemen Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent Rytíři Kladno players