Ilya Ezhov

Ilya Ezhov (born January 12, 1987) is a Russian-Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender. He is currently the goaltender coach for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Early life and junior career

Ilya Ezhov was born in Krasnodar and moved to Montreal with his family when he was seven years old. In Canada he first started playing hockey as a forward, but switched to goaltending at the age of 13.

In 2005, he won the Fred Page Cup with the Hawkesbury Hawks of the Central Junior A Hockey League (CJHL). He then joined the expansion St. John's Fog Devils for two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team did not offer him an overage player slot, so he joined the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) for a season and won the league's MVP award.

Professional career

After graduating from junior hockey, Ezhov returned to Russia for training camp with SKA Saint Petersburg. He was offered a three-year two-way contract, and played it out with SKA's farm club HC VMF. In 2011, he was first promoted to play for SKA in the Kontinental Hockey League. With SKA he established himself as a capable backup goaltender. He became Lada's starting goaltender, then on December 25 he returned to SKA. The president of the Association of Hockey Agents Sergey Paremuzov criticized the transfer, accusing SKA of circumventing the KHL's regulations.

Ezhov won the Gagarin Cup with SKA in 2015, though he did not play any games in the playoffs and served as the backup to Mikko Koskinen.

At the end of the 2015–16 KHL season, Ezhov's contract with SKA expired and he rejoined Lada.

Before the 2017-18 KHL season, Ezhov joined HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. While playing for Neftekhimik, he was selected for 2018's KHL All-Star Game.

After two seasons as the starting goaltender for Neftekhimik, Ezhov left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with HC Vityaz on July 12, 2019.

Ezhov spent three seasons with Vityaz Podolsk before leaving as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa on May 5, 2022.

On May 1, 2024 Ezhov announced his retirement. However, on September 19, he joined the Laval Petroliers of the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey (LNAH).

Coaching career

In 2024, while still playing in the LNAH, Ezhov started his coaching career by becoming the goaltender coach for the Concordia University Stingers. In his first season with the team, the Stingers won the first Queen's Cup in their history as champions of the Ontario University Athletics conference, and won silver medals at the national tournament as they lost the national championship game to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 2-3.

In 2026, Ezhov was hired as the interim goaltender coach of the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League (AHL). He remained in Laval's coaching staff for the 2026-27 AHL season.

Personal life

Ezhov is a dual citizen of Canada and Russia. and a son, Tyson, born in 2017.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L OTL SO GAA SV% GP W L SO GAA SV% 2004-05 Hawkesbury Hawks CJHL 30 - - - 3 3.55 .884 - - - - - - 2005-06 St. John's Fog Devils QMJHL 39 16 17 0 0 4.11 .886 1 0 0 0 3.93 .500 2006-07 St. John's Fog Devils QMJHL 52 22 25 3 1 4.15 .876 3 0 2 0 4.28 .893 2007-08 Melfort Mustangs SJHL 40 28 8 2 4 2.01 .925 10 3 7 2 2.81 .895 2008-09 HC VMF Vysshaya Liga 47 17 28 0 3 3.01 - - - - - - - 2009-10 HC VMF Vysshaya Liga 31 15 13 3 4 2.19 .915 2 0 2 0 2.81 - 2010-11 HC VMF VHL 49 22 20 7 3 2.40 .922 5 3 2 1 2.41 .934 2011-12 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 22 12 3 5 1 2.26 .920 3 1 1 1 2.16 .913 2012-13 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 21 15 5 1 2 2.23 .920 11 6 4 2 1.77 .933 2013-14 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 18 12 3 2 1 1.91 .920 - - - - - - 2014-15 HC Lada Togliatti KHL 33 11 19 3 2 2.23 .929 - - - - - - 2014-15 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 2 1 1 0 0 1.02 .963 - - - - - - 2015-16 SKA Saint Petersburg KHL 16 7 5 3 0 2.16 .926 - - - - - - 2016-17 HC Lada Togliatti KHL 50 14 27 7 3 2.61 .929 - - - - - - 2017-18 HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 50 23 18 5 7 2.18 .930 4 0 4 0 3.71 .879 2018-19 HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 50 19 27 3 1 2.43 .911 - - - - - - 2019-20 HC Vityaz Podolsk KHL 44 14 20 9 2 2.56 .921 4 0 2 0 3.99 .887 2020-21 HC Vityaz Podolsk KHL 38 13 16 6 3 2.79 .913 - - - - - - 2021-22 HC Vityaz Podolsk KHL 32 6 16 6 1 2.76 .913 - - - - - - 2022-23 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 44 22 10 9 4 2.14 .924 6 2 4 1 2.14 .924 2023-24 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 21 10 8 0 2 2.46 .902 - - - - - - 2024-25 Laval Petroliers LNAH 14 6 6 0 1 3.78 .889 3 1 2 0 4.02 .879 2025-26 Laval Petroliers LNAH 2 1 1 0 0 4.44 .857 - - - - - - KHL totals 440 179 178 59 30 2.38 .921 28 9 15 3 2.43 .914