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When Yaroslav Askarov was six years old, his team played without goaltenders. The effort required to skate up the ice and score felt thankless when the opponent swiftly equalized. Unwilling to see his team’s lead squandered, the future SKA St. Petersburg netminder dropped to his knees and blocked shots in skaters’ pads. Noticing his courage in front of the puck, the coach offered Askarov an opportunity to step between the pipes—and perhaps you could say the rest was history.