Blue Jackets’ Third-Round Draft Pick Survived A Meteor Explosion in Russia When He Was 14

The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Vitali Abramov with their third-round pick (65th overall) in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Abramov is 18 years old now and was in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, when a meteor exploded in the airspace above the city on Feb. 15, 2013.

He told NHL.com, “I was in school and all the windows in my class crashed. All windows in the city was gone. … It was like big panic because it was something none of us had ever seen. But after that it was fine when everyone said it was a meteorite and we’re still alive. Normal school day and a meteor came down.”

Here’s an amateur video of the explosion:

Abramov moved to Canada last year after being drafted by Gatineau in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. As a 17-year-old, he scored 38 goals and dished out 55 assists in 63 games in the regular season, and contributed seven goals and six assists in ten playoff games.

Abramov has come a long way and it will be interesting to see how much farther he can go as he embarks on the beginning of his american pro hockey career.