RIP Alexei Cherepanov

Whenever someone young passes away it’s always tragic. But what makes Alexei Cherepanovs passing even more devastating is the nature of his death and the incredibly bright future he had ahead of him. There is little doubt that he would have one day become a superstar in the NHL. Rangers Assistant Coach Mike Pelino had recently made the trip to Russia to see Cherepanov play. “I was shocked when I heard. I thought it must be a misprint or something because he just had so much going for him,” He said. “He was someone who I was really excited about and thought, ‘Wow, we did get something special here.’

Cherepanov had broken Pavel Bure’s scoring record for a rookie in the Super League at the age of 17. He had eclipsed the point totals of Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk in the KHL. This season he was tearing the league apart scoring 8 goals in 15 games. He was on his way to stardom, but sometimes the twists and turns of life have other plans.

His death shows how fragile life can be. One minute hes on a 2 on 1 with Jaromir Jagr, the next hes collapsed on the bench. Very surreal. It is now being reported that Cherepanov had chronic ischemia, a condition that doesn’t allow enough blood to get to the heart. There has also been questions of negligence by the arena staff and medical personal at the game. Apparently, there never was an ambulance at the game, something that is required by the NHL and is what most people would consider being common sense. Also, the defibrillator that would have been used to help revive Cherepanov had dead batteries and could not be used. They did not even have a stretcher to bring Cherepanov off the bench as he was seen being carried like ‘a sack of potatoes’ by the Omsk players. One can’t help but have the thought creep in their mind that if he was playing for the Rangers and this happened things may have turned out differently. But thats irrelevant as the damage has been done.

Rangers fans were excited to see Cherepanov come to the Rangers and play on the Garden’s ice. Ever since i saw him drafted I’ve been looking forward for his arrival in the NHL. His tragic death will not soon be forgotten by the Rangers and their fans and he will always be remembered.