Israeli hockey team
Photo: Nissim Butbul
Israeli hockey player shocks world
(Video) Eliezer Sherbatov scores unbelievable, made-for-YouTube goal
VIDEO - When hockey fans think of jaw-dropping, highlight-reel goals, the first names that come to mind are slightly predictable.
However, unlikely as it may be, an Israeli hockey player by the name Eliezer Sherbatov may have just become the next YouTube sensation.
The usual suspects usually include the likes of players such as Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals star, Alexander Ovechkin.
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Back in April, the International Ice Hockey Federation Division III World Hockey Championship was played in Cape Town, South Africa, featuring teams from Israel, Greece, Luxembourg, Mongolia, South Africa and Turkey.
Israel dominated the tournament, winning all five of its games by a combined score of 57-9, and thus being promoted to the IIHF Division II WHC to be played in 2012.
On April 15, during Team Israel’s 26-2 victory over Team Greece, Sherbatov scored a phenomenal goal which has had the hockey world buzzing this week.
Pulling the puck back between his legs on a breakaway, Sherbatov flipped the puck forward in the air and batted it into the net, top shelf on his backhand.
This was just one of the 19-year-old’s 14 points during the game, finishing with six goals and eight assists. He finished with 14 goals and 16 assists in four games played during the tournament.
A video of the goal was finally uploaded to YouTube on July 9 and has been viewed approximately 50,000 times already. The video was tweeted to Phoenix Coyotes forward, Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) on July 13 and Bissonnette luckily re-tweeted it for his 112,000+ fans to see, thus breaking the story loose.
The goal has since been seen on various websites, including NHL.com. It was also featured this week on TSN's "Top 10: Creative Goals" reel, ranking fourth all-time.
Sherbatov, just 5-foot-7, is originally from Rehovot, but moved to Laval, Quebec when he was two-years-old. In 2005, he played for Israel in the World Under-18 Hockey Championship, Division III level as a 13-year-old. Sherbatov finished with four goals and five assists in the tournament. He then competed with the Under-18 team again in 2008, notching two goals and two assists.
Last year, he suited up for the senior team for the first time at the 2010 Division II World Championship, finishing with three goals and three assists. Sherbatov says that he has not been back to Israel since leaving the country as a child.
He began playing for the Montreal Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, one of the top three Canadian junior hockey leagues, during the 2009-10 season.
Sherbatov scored 30 points in 62 games during his rookie campaign and finished with 15 points during the 2010-2011 season, which was split between the Juniors and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
In 120 games in the QMJHL, Sherbatov has amassed 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points.
Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life
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