Rangers first round prospect Alexei Cherepanov has passed away. TSN is reporting that he collapsed on the bench during the brief stages of a KHL game.
UPDATES AS WE GET THEM:
1PM TUESDAY This is a video of yesterday's Talkcast with Dewey, reacting to Alexei's death.
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12PM TUESDAY Steve H (our Wild correspondant) in the comments section makes the good point of updating you guys on the untrue rumor that Jagr and Alexei skated in to each other, causing the incident (reported by an AOL fanhouse blogger). This is now being denied by Russian executives. Steve also points out that the only Jagr connection to this all is the fact that he and Cherepanov were discussing their latest 2 on 1 effort on the bench before he collapsed. Keep the comments coming guys, we really appreciate your feedback.
11:30AM TUESDAY An AP report has contacted a Russian lawmaker, who has stated that Cherepanov could have died due to the inattention of paramedics who were called when the incident was happening. Investigators in Russia said that the young players suffered from chronic ischemia, a medical condition in which not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs (TSN). This reminds us all (unfortunatley) of the Jiri Fischer episode in Detroit, where it was only later that we found out of a heart condition the player had. In Detroit, they were on the call immediately and knew what they were doing with Fischer; they revived him and now Fischer is living a healthy life. With Cheraponov, they didn't have the required equipment to restart his heart (defibrillator). More details as to what happened will be coming out and we will have them for you as it does.
8AM TUESDAY Scotty has found two videos of his last game. VIEWERS MAY FIND THIS OFFENSIVE, SO DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
His Last Shift
The Final Minute
5:00PM NOTE: READ ABOVE (12PM TUESDAY) AS TO VALIDITY OF THIS REPORT. Our good friend Puck Daddy (Greg) gets this from the same reporter....Cherepanov is dead. He collapsed on the bench on the 18th minute of the third period in the game against Vityaz Chekhov after a collision with Jaromir Jagr [his teammate on Omsk in the KHL]. He went to the bench and his heart stopped. He was taken to the emergency room at a local hospital where the best doctors in town worked for about an hour trying to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 22:55 Moscow time (2:55pm EST). After the news the entire Avangard Omsk squad went to one of the local churches to light candles for Cherepanov.
4:40PM: NOTE: READ ABOVE (12PM TUESDAY) AS TO VALIDITY OF THIS REPORT. According to Eric McErlain (AOL FanHouse) , with help from a Russian reporter he knows...we cannot confirm if this is really what happened.... In the 18th minute of the third period of Avangard Omsk's game against Chekhov Vityaz, Cherepanov collided with Jaromir Jagr during a line change. Once Cherepanov got to the bench, he collapsed, and team doctors determined that his heart had stopped and immediately began attempts to revive him. Cherepanov was then transported to an unnamed hospital in Moscow where doctors attempted to revive him for about an hour before he was declared dead of cardiac arrest at 22:55 local time/2:55 p.m. U.S. EDT.
4:20PM: The Rangers have confirmed the terrible news, with a posting on their website. From Glen Sather: “We are extremely saddened by the tragic passing of Alexei. On behalf of the New York Rangers organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Alexei was an intelligent, energetic young man, with tremendous talent and an extremely bright future.”
4:10PM: Larry Brooks from NY POST: According to initial reports, Cherepanov collapsed on the bench after suffering a heart attack and was unable to be resuscitated. There was, apparently, no ambulance on hand at the rink at the time of Cherepanov's collapse as Omsk played Vityav Chekhov in the Moscow Region. Resuscitation efforts were conducted in the parking lot
4:05PM: Rumors are floating around that it could have been a collision with teammate Jaromir Jagr that made it happen. Nothing has been made offical as of yet.
11 comments:
Terrible news. I was completely shocked, as I'm sure the rest of the hockey world is/was. Alexei was a great prospect, and it's always saddening to see someone pass away at such a young age.
(by the way, good move to disallow anon's to post here, it was getting out of hand)
Yes Josh, you are right.. The "anon" thing was brutal..
As for Cherapanov, what a shame.. Never good when someone so young with such great promise passes on. This is the 2nd incident with the KHL this year - first it was Jussi Markkanen's son, now Cherapanov.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the "C" family..
It should also be pointed out in the updates that all of the conjecture about his "collision with Jagr" during a line change causing this incident is wholly unfounded and is being denounced by the team and Russian news sources now. Video was taken by both teams but it has not been made public as investigators are now examining the footage to see if this reported collision occurred, but so far it has been denied. And, in any event, the medical personnel state that any contact he may have had was not a factor, instead chalking the matter up to chronic ischemia, a medical condition in which not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs.
Several news sources are now reporting that Cherepanov and Jagr were sitting side by side on the bench discussing a 2-on-1 they failed to convert when Cherepanov passed out.
Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail has a new article featuring a discussion with Omsk coach Wayne Fleming. In the article, it mentions that the heart condition Cherepanov had was present from birth and had been completely undetected.
Fleming also had this to say about the incident:
(from article) “It was towards the end of the third period; he'd just played a shift. Another line was just going over the boards when all of a sudden, Jaromir Jagr, started yelling. I looked to my left and Cherepanov had just collapsed back. He lost all colour. The doctor was at the far end of the bench. He came running down, as did the trainer. Everybody moved down to the far end, to give them some room.
“Then, they took him off the bench. There was an exit door about 20 yards away and they just lay him there. When the game was over, I went out and Jagr went out; he was on the ground and there were a number of what looked like medical attendants working on him, trying to get his heart going again. They would get it going; and then it would stop again.
“When they finally did get him to hospital, they had him on life support – but then they lost him.”
Jay Grossman, Cherepanov's agent, had this to say in an updated New York Times report:
“It doesn’t appear there was a triggering event,” said Grossman, who said he spoke to other players in the game as well as people attending it. “Obviously it was his heart that just gave way. That is pretty clear.”
R.I.P. Alexei
(Josh H. and G are both stupid little geeks and can go fuck themselves with there little "anon" comments...)
Yes, because your comments are SO helpful to the situation at hand.
(it's sarcasm. had to say that because you're too stupid to realize it yourself)
You're the one that posted all those hateful comments as anon, and now you've made a blogger account just so you can keep trolling. Give it up, no one cares.
I wish I could be an admin here and delete all the useless troll comments.
As we all know YouTube is not the finest destination for even handed debate but as a writer who has been following the KHL I feel I should try to clear up some of the anti-Russian rhetoric that has been listed in the comments of these videos as well as some other issues. First and foremost the Russian government has been quick to question why no defibrillator was present at the rink, as we all know the KHL is an extremely well funded league it is just unfortunate that Cherapanov's ailment struck at one of the leagues poorest teams, there is no doubt that a defibrillator could have been indispensable in this situation, however later reports suggest that this was an cardiac arrest as a result of Ischemia, a disease which is not a condition solely of the heart. If you read reports both Omsk and Vityaz medics fought to resuscitate him succeeding a few times only for the restricted blood flow caused by Ischemia to result in it stopping again.
A number of comments were quick to criticize the lack of a stretcher, as it later turned out no ambulance was present at the game. This is a gross oversight that resulted in tragedy, that said the reason both Omsk and Vityaz doctors hauled him of the bench was to lay him somewhere flat and spacious to perform CPR, their reaction were fast and they did all they could as did the doctors at the Moscow hospital who fought to resuscitate him for an hour.
The KHL has learnt lessons the hard way and its cost a young man his life, why such contingencies were not in place is a mystery but the doctors and trainers at the game should not receive blame.
As for reports of a collision with Jagr I cannot for the life of me understand why such a story has received such credence? Is it because Jagr is a name familiar with North American fans and so the gravity of the situation had to be exacerbated by story selling conjecture? Had there been a collision so what? Had a Vityaz player landed a punishing yet clean hit on him would we all be seeking his head? Collisions are part of the game, later reports have suggested that Jagr was in conversation with the youngster, who he had almost certainly taken under his wing, before he lost consciousness, it may well have been Jagr who alerted team doctors to the situation.
Along side Bourdon and Renaud, tragedy seems to be stalking hockey players at this time.
RIP Alexei, lest we forget
I think it's a shame that you're posting videos of someone dieing. Absolutely disgusting and disrespect.
RSW -
All valid points on your commentary about the Russian League, and I think it is the fact that they are not a financially hurting League that makes this all the more frustrating and disturbing. Some folks will likely lose jobs but what is that by comparison? I would have imagined that in the wake of Sergei Zholtok's equally shocking collapse in Riga during the NHL lockout that teams and leagues in Russia, in general, would have prepped better for future possibilities, like requiring defibrillators in the arenas.
The Jagr thing is disturbing yet also very common in today's hideous newsworld. In a day and age when any random blogger can "break news," thereby beating actual news outlets and stealing the exclusivity, many news outlets do not properly fact check anything in their rush to get into the pile as well. News is no longer news. News is gossip and conjecture.
Jagr had essentially taken Cherepanov under his wing, many saying he was acting like an uncle to the Ranger draft pick, and that the two of them worked closely together. All the speculation of Jagr colliding with him and causing the incident, and some of the resulting foul commentary directed toward Jagr, is unfortunate and could have been totally avoided had folks properly vetted info for facts.
Coach Wayne Fleming states that it was, in fact, Jegr who signaled that something was wrong, screaming for medics after the player had collapsed. Cherepanov was sitting between he and linemate Pavol Rosa. And of course Jagr would be panicked and distressed. As the mentor of a 19 year old first round draft pick with a bright future it would shake anyone in the same position.
The KHL are investigating. The team is investigating. Igor Larionov, who helped establish the League, is shaken by the whole thing and is demanding answers. And this comes at a poor time for the KHL as Russia, in general, is trying to recapture some of its glory and its traditions. Eternally proud of their ice hockey, they wanted the KHL to shine and become more of an option for the players of Russia and Europe, convincing them to stay instead of moving to the NHL. This incident is a backward step in that process for them.
A horrible tragedy, to be sure, but all of the rampant speculation and accusations that initially flew around only serve to cheapen the story.
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