It took six days and nights, but Eliezer Sherbatov, an Israeli-Canadian hockey player from Montreal, has made it safely out of war-torn Ukraine and back to Canada. The 30-year old left winger was playing for HC Mariupol in the Ukrainian Hockey Super League when the Russian invasion began Feb. 24.

“So I just want to take just a second to thank everyone for your words and your prayers,” Sherbatov told his Instagram followers in a video message posted Monday from Warsaw, Poland, before returning to Montreal on Tuesday.

“I haven’t eaten or slept in the past six days,” he said in the clip.

Sherbatov’s experience included being awakened Thursday by the sound of explosions from Russian forces attacking outside his hotel in Kramatorsk, in eastern Urkaine, where the team was staying ahead of a scheduled game. A harrowing train ride that took him through hot spots to the western city of Lviv brought him in contact with the Israeli consulate there.

Since he has an Israeli passport, he was able to use it to join a busload of refugees and cross the border into Poland, he told TSN.

“I also want to thank all the volunteers that helped me throughout this journey, all the Israelis that were on the line with me every single minute.”

On ice in Israel, Quebec and Europe

Sherbatov was born in Israel where his Russian parents had immigrated after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The family moved to Canada in 1991, where his mother Anna taught him to skate when he was two years old. The young player moved up through the Quebec junior leagues between 2008 and 2011, but was not drafted by the NHL. Sherbatov has since found career success in Europe.

He’s played on professional clubs in France, Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Slovakia.

Last year, he raised eyebrows when he purposely joined the club in Oswiecim, Poland. Despite criticism from some Jewish groups, the athlete insisted he wanted to play there to honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust in the nearby Auschwitz death camp.

Sherbatov’s wife and two young children live in Montreal, as do his parents and siblings. His Instagram account often shows photos of him working out at one of the martial arts gyms that his brother owns. His mother, a Russian-trained figure skater, is a well-known power-skating coach for hockey players, including Anthony Duclair of the Florida Panthers. She founded her school called the Sherbatov Academy.

Watch Eliezer Sherbatov’s best goals from his last season:

Critical of Canadian government

Now safely back home, Sherbatov is worried about his teammates who remained in Ukraine. He is critical of the Canadian government’s lack of consular assistance from Kyiv while he was desperately trying to decide how best to get out of Ukraine.

After his repeated attempts to contact someone from the Canadian mission in the Ukrainian capital, Sherbatov received what he felt was an unsatisfactory reply.

“Automatic reply from our Canadien government. No help whatsoever when you’re in a situation of life and death. I have no words. People are dying,” he wrote on his Facebook post Sunday.

The Canadian government suspended diplomatic services in its Embassy in Kyiv due to the Russian invasion, and the embassy website advises Canadian citizens to email, or to call an emergency 24-hour help line in Ottawa.

Sherbatov was grateful to the Israeli diplomats in Lviv who arranged safe passage to Warsaw. He also thanks Montreal entrepreneur, Robert Oringer, who arranged accommodation for him at a hotel near the airport in the Polish capital, from where he was able to fly to Canada. Sherbatov, who was born in Rehovot, posted a photo of his Israeli passport on his social media.

“Thank you a Million times Israel, for keeping your people safe. I love you. Baruch Hashem”.

Being in a ‘real war’

The Canadian posted photos of himself Wednesday on his Instagram showing his reunion with his extended family, including a baby son who was born several months ago.

“Not knowing you’ll be back to your family, your daughter, your son that you haven’t met,” he wrote. “Every second you are alive is a blessing.”

Sherbatov revealed his terror while sitting in a train station during his escape.

“Not wanting to sleep because you don’t know if you’ll wake up, seeing and hearing a real war,” he wrote. “Sitting in the train and waiting for 24 hours if it’s gonna get gunned down.”