New York Rangers Prospect Alexei Cherepanov Dies During Russian Hockey Game

by Jon Azpiri | October 13, 2008 at 03:19 pm

368 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov died during a game in his native Russia Monday night. The 19-year-old forward collapsed on the bench near the end of game and died soon after.

According to one Russian blog, the collapse occurred after Cherepanov, who was playing for Omsk in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, collided with a teammate during a line change. However, Omsk head coach Wayne Fleming told TSN he didn't see anything on the ice that could have brought on Cherepanov's death and that medical staff did their best to revive him.

"They tried to get his heart started again but they couldn't," he explained.

Sources in Russia tell TSN that the ambulance that is normally at all games had already departed and had to be called back.

It is not clear exactly how long it took for Cherepanov to be transported from the rink to the hospital but one source in the arena told TSN it was, "probably 15 or 20 minutes."

There are also questions as to whether defibrillators at the arena were in good working order, though no further details are available.

The native of Barnaul, Russia was considered a blue-chip NHL prospect. The Rangers drafted him 17th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft. He represented Team Russia in several elite tournament, including a bronze medal win at the 2008 world junior hockey championship. He was also selected to the all-tournament team at the 2007 world junior championship.

Cherepanov also put up some impressive numbers while playing in his native Russia.

He had seven goals and 12 points in 14 games played this season in KHL, including the first goal in Monday's game. Cherepanov played 106 games during his career in the KHL/RSL (Russian Super League), all with Avangard Omsk and scored 40 goals with 29 assists over that span.

He set the RSL record for goals by a rookie with 18, beating the previous mark held by Pavel Bure (17 goals), during the 2006-07 season. His 29 points in his rookie campaign was more than Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk scored during their first initial RSL seasons