Dmitry Tertyshny did not dare to move to the United States for a long time. Philadelphia scouts noticed the defender when he was only 18 years old, but he himself still did not consider himself ready to play in the strongest league on the planet. He agreed to move to the American club just three years later, with the support of his wife.
The boy did well in his new place, so the couple soon decided to have a child. However, unfortunately, Dmitry was never able to see his son.
A young hockey player died unexpectedly while walking by a lake.
COLD BLOOD TALENT
Tertyshny was born into a family of athletes and his brothers, who all played hockey, left him practically no choice. Dmitry decided to keep up with the boys and entered the Chelyabinsk Traktor Academy. At first, the short, frail boy did not seem very promising, but what he lacked in physical qualities he more than made up for in diligence and attention. The aspiring hockey player did not miss training and progressed in each lesson: he tried never to repeat the mistake he had made once.
– Dmitry was a defensive defender, strict and careful. Composure is his main quality. All the guys on the team loved and respected him. He reliable for life. As they say, you could go on reconnaissance with him, he would never sell you, he would never betray you,” the famous children’s coach Yuri Mogilnikov later spoke about him.
At the junior level, Tertyshny was already considered a top talent. While playing for Traktor, he twice won the national championship in his age category and twice more – the CIS championship. Already at the age of 17, the boy made his debut at the professional level, moving to UralAZ Miass, and after one season he got a place in the main team of Traktor, which was then performing at the highest level.
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NHL DEBUT
By that time, Dmitry had already been noticed in the United States. In 1995, the Russian hockey player was drafted by Philadelphia, where at that time several immigrants from Russia were already playing. However, Tertyshny did not rush to move abroad, following the advice of his older brother. For the next three years, the player continued to play for Traktor, gaining the experience necessary to work in the NHL.
Tertyshny decided to take a responsible step three years later. After him, his wife Polina left Russia in 1998. Following the results of the training camp, where Dmitry showed himself brilliantly, he was offered a two-year contract; the hockey player accepted the offer. The young player impressed the Philadelphia coach so much that he did not even try out the newcomer in the farm club, immediately putting him into action in the NHL.
Dmitry justified the trust of the specialist. The athlete’s exceptionally hard work again played a decisive role: thanks to this quality, Tertyshny quickly established himself in the team of “pilots”. At the end of the season, the Russian played 60 games in the regular season, a more than impressive result for a debutant.
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TERRIBLE ACCIDENT
However, Tertyshny’s career in the United States was cut short before it even began. A normal boat trip turned out to be unexpectedly fatal for the athlete. On July 23, the Russian, together with friends from the “pilots” camp, rented a boat to sail on the picturesque Canadian Lake Okanagan, located not far from the border with the United States.
Suddenly a large wave hit the ship. Dmitry at that moment was sitting on the bow of the ship and fell into the water by surprise. In a terrible accident, the hockey player fell under the ship’s propeller. When the friends pulled the man out of the lake, it turned out that the blade had severed the artery in his neck.
A Russian athlete tragically died during the race. He collapsed just before the finish line.
It proved impossible to save Tertyshny: he died from blood loss while still on board. For the athlete’s family, the news of his death was a terrible shock. The hockey player’s wife, Polina, was then four months pregnant; Just a week before the incident, the couple chose a name for their unborn child. Doctors miraculously managed to save the woman from a miscarriage.
Social networks of Alexander Tertyshny, son of Dmitry
They also mourned the loss of the young talent in the United States, where both teammates and fans fell in love with the kind and hard-working boy. In memory of the deceased, Philadelphia later organized a charity match, the proceeds of which went to support the son of Polina and Dmitry: 16 thousand people attended that match.
