A Canadian-Belarusian playing for a Russian team scored the prettiest goal you’ll see all year against a club from Prague.
Yes, hockey is international.
Watch as Toronto-born forward Geoff Platt — playing for underdog eight seed Lokomotiv Yaroslavl — cuts to the net, scoops a pass, bounces it midair like a paddle ball and knocks it in from the ether at full speed during KHL’s Western Conference final.
Remarkable.
Platt’s jaw-dropper would go for not, however, as Lev Prague defeated Lokomotiv 3-2 in Game 5 Thursday and clinched the series 4-1. Lev now advances to face the Mike Keenan-coached Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Gagarin Cup final.
So what about this Platt, a KHL vet who was traded mid-season to Lokomotiv from Dinamo Minsk and scored nine playoff points for his new team’s unlikely run?
Platt is 28. The speedster washed out of the NHL after scoring just four goals in just 48 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2005-07) and Anaheim Ducks (2007-08). His junior hockey journey saw him jump around the OHL, from the North Bay Centennials to the Saginaw Spirit to the Erie Otters.
Although he was never drafted, Platt has carved out a nice journeyman professional career for himself.
Not to write a guy like this off, but Platt might be most remembered for Thursday’s juggling act.