Little Finland is one of the main suppliers of hockey stars around the world. Natives of Suomi play in the best clubs in North America and in the KHL. One of them is hockey player Leonid Komarov. Where the talented extreme striker is playing now is no secret for NHL fans. Since 2014, he has been conscientiously practicing his bread with the Toronto Maple Leaves, where he managed to gain a foothold in the first link and earned the right to challenge all NHL stars to the match with his game.
Native of Estonia
Unusual for the Finn player's name and surname suggest the idea of ​​the Russian origin of Leonid Komarov. In fact, he was born in Estonian Narva in 1987. His father, Alexander Komarov, was also a professional hockey player, at one time he moved to Finland, to the small town of Nyukarlebu. Here he played for the modest clubs of the lower leagues, and thanks to his Karelian origin he got the right to stay in the country for permanent residence.
A hockey box is an integral part of any locality in Finland. The town with a population of seven thousand people, where Leonid Komarov lived, also boasted its own site. Here, under the strict guidance of his father, the future formidable forward of the NHL and the KHL honed his skills. By the way, subsequently, a real ice palace will be erected on the site of the open area, which will be named in honor of its illustrious countryman. And a person unfamiliar with hockey and its stars will be surprised that the ice palace in Suomi is called "Leonid Komarov".
Career start
At first, a native of Narva played for Finnish junior clubs. In 2005, he joined the friendly ranks of the country’s major league club “Esat”. In its composition, he became the silver medalist of the country. At the start of his adult career, Leonid Komarov, an aggressive and assertive hockey player, was not impressed by his performance. In not the most powerful league in Europe, he scored no more than five goals per season, did not distribute very many assists.
Nevertheless, vigilant scouts from North America saw something in a relatively short, well-shot Finnish guy. Already in 2006, he was selected by the draft NHL club “Toronto Maple Leaves” under serial number 180.
In 2006, Leonid Komarov, a hockey player with a great future, moved to another Finnish club Pelicans, where he played until 2009. Here he also did not impress with his performance, ending his career in the Finnish League with a mark of 56 points in two hundred matches.
Gagarin Cup Winner
In 2009, hockey player Leonid Komarov made the transition to the KHL. Dynamo Moscow offered the Finnish striker a lucrative contract, and he, without hesitation, moved to Russia.
Well-versed in Russian, he easily adapted in Moscow, and his natural sense of humor and sociability made him one of Dynamo's favorites. The first season he mastered the Russian hockey, did not shine with effectiveness. Only in the second year, Leonid Komarov played out and managed to score 26 points. At the same time, he completed the season with an excellent indicator of the usefulness of the minutes spent on the site, which amounted to +11.
Hockey player Leonid Komarov is gradually becoming one of the main stars of the KHL, an indispensable player in the attacking game of the team. Together with her, he managed to win the Gagarin Cup in 2012.
Throwing from Moscow to Toronto and back
In 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL club had already selected Leonid Komarov as a draft and patiently awaited the Finnish forward. Six years later, in 2012, he decided to fulfill his dream and play in the strongest hockey league on the planet.
However, due to a lockout in the NHL for the first half of the season, he continued to play for Dynamo Moscow. Many temporarily unemployed stars of North America came to Russian clubs that season so as not to lose their earnings and game practice. Among them were players such as Niklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin. Both of them began to play for Dynamo Moscow. So, Leonid Komarov for a short time was a member of the strongest attacking link on the planet.
After the lockout, the Finnish striker went to fulfill his childhood desire to play in the NHL. However, he was not immediately entrusted with a place in the Toronto main team. He spent a dozen matches in a farm club playing in the American Hockey League.
Having performed well in the AHL, Leonid Komarov joined the Toronto Maple Leaves. However, the remaining matches of the season, he adapted to the new realities, high speeds and power style of the NHL, so he did not immediately gain a foothold in the main links of the team.
Unable to agree on the terms of his contract with the club management, the pragmatic Russian Finn decided to accept the advantageous offer of Dynamo Moscow and returned to Russia, where he spent the 2013/2014 season.
Return to Canada
The second coming of Leonid Komarov in Dynamo was marked by qualitative changes in the forward game. Previously, he played very monotonously, relying solely on his power and on duty on the opponent's goalkeeper's patch. In the 2013/2014 season, fans appreciated the progress of the Finn, who began to act more inventively, distributed many programs to partners, selflessly practiced in defense.
This impressed the leaders of the Toronto Maple Leaves, and they returned Komarov back, agreeing to more favorable terms of the contract for him. Since then, he firmly staked out a place in the first link of the team and became one of its leaders.
With his game, a native of Narva even deserved an invitation to the match of all NHL stars, which left him with a lot of unforgettable impressions.
The wife of hockey player Leonid Komarov is a rather famous tennis player Julia Manner, with whom he signed in 2016.