Tragic hockey prodigy laid to rest
Published 15 October, 2008, 13:50
The funeral of Russian ice hockey star Alexey Cherepanov has taken place in Omsk. The 19-year-old forward collapsed on the bench minutes before the end of a match near Moscow on Monday.
Thousands of fans turned up on Wednesday in the city of Omsk to pay their last respects to the sporting hero.
A small plinth was erected on Cherepanov’s car, which is now covered in flowers, as is Cherepanov’s portrait at the Omsk hockey arena. There won’t be any training sessions in the youth hockey school where which he graduated.
A number seven shirt will be hung above the Omsk Arena. This number will be retired from use in Avangard.
An official investigation is to examine how Russian hockey prodigy Aleksey Cherepanov’s health was monitored by his club and what medical help was available at the arena where he became ill.
Who’s to blame?
According to leading officials of the Russian Hockey Federation and the Continental Hockey League (KHL) there was no ambulance near the stadium where the match was held, which is a serious violation.
However, local medical authorities reject claims of negligence and said that they had not been contracted by ice hockey officials to provide extra standby medical cover at the stadium.
“Usually, stadiums should have contracts with medical institutions. In this case, there was none,” said Svetlana Tarasova, head of the health protection agency
Vesti TV channel reported that the ambulance arrived 15 minutes later with no electro-shock equipment . Moscow radio City-FM reported that three doctors who were working on the ambulance that tragic night have been beaten up. They are said to have been attacked by an unidentified group of people on Tuesday morning.
There are also claims that Aleksey Cherepanov suffered from ischemic heart disease. The Moscow region’s Prosecutor's Office has started a check of the relevant documents. According to spokesperson, Daria Zhukova, the prosecutors will look into how a person with such a serious disease was allowed onto ice.
Both his doctor and Omsk Avangard, the club Cherepanov used to play for, fefute any suggestion of megligence on their part.
“We’ve been looking after him for many years now. The recent tests taken in July were fine,” Vladimir Venediktov, head of the medical centre that monitors Avangard players’ condition.
Meanwhile, the club intends to sue the health minister of Moscow Region Vladimir Semyonov, who claimed that Cherepanov went on the ice while seriously ill.
Victim of commercialisation?
Meanwhile, the club intends to sue Vladimir Semyonov, the Health Minister of Moscow Region, who’s claimed that Cherepanov went on the ice while seriously ill. According to Semyonov, Cherepanov’s heart was bigger then normal.
The Head of the Health Ministry’s Federal Sports Medicine Centre, Igor Ivanov, blames commercialisation of the most popular sports for the death of Cherepanov.
“With money flowing into sport, it became business as usual, but letting sportsmen with health anomalies to compete is unacceptable,” Ivanov said.
Ivanov’s words are probably more applicable to football, where there have been a number of cases, like Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe’s death during an international game in June 2003, or the death of Spaniard Antonio Puerta, who died in hospital three days after suffering a series of cardiac arrests during a league game in August 2007.
The only similar case in Russian hockey was Vyacheslav Bezukladnikov’s demise. The 33-year-old forward of Lada Togliatti died during a training session in 2001, but his death was attributed to liver cirrhosis.
However, according to Cherepanov’s agent Jay Grossman, the examination that Cherepanov underwent in the U.S. didn’t show any anomalies. Players are usually checked after being drafted into the NHL.
Presidential sporting development council member Vyacheslav Fetisov believes that Cherepanov’s death will lead the KHL into adopting stricter regulations.
“I spoke with the KHL President, Aleksandr Medvedev, and we agreed that additional measures are required,” Fetisov said.
Fetisov also dismissed the idea that the increased intensity of the season’s calendar might have an impact.
“In the NHL they play as many as 82 games in the regular season. This is not the source of problem,” he added.
Sudden death
Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr, who now also plays for Avangard, was talking to his young teammate on the bench when Cherepanov suddenly collapsed, with just two minutes before the end of the game.
“They had a two-on-one with Jagr. When they skated back to the bench they were talking apparently about how they should’ve scored. Then all of a sudden he just collapsed,” said Jay Grossman, Cherepanov’s agent.
Shocked fans followed the player to hospital, but it was already too late and he was pronounced dead by doctors.
Cherepanov’s family will receive an amount equal to his two-year contract as compensation for his death, according to the regulations of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), said Vladimir Shalayev, the KHL Head.
However, Shalayev said that “no money could compensate the parents for the death of their 19-year-old boy.”
Cherepanov had just started to maintain an online blog in a popular Russian tabloid.
Hockey’s rising star
Aleksey Cherepanov, considered the most promising hockey prodigy of the world by many, was born on January 15, 1989, in Altai region.
After graduating from Omsk Avangard sports school, he started to play in Avangard's first team in 2006 and was named 'best rookie' of the 2006/07 season, beating the previous scoring record for a rookie.
Nickamed the ‘Siberian Express’ for his speed, Cherepanov was a star in Russia’s junior team, which took bronze in the World Cup, and was on the verge of the senior national squad.
In 2007 he was a first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, who had said he figured in their future plans. He had been expected to join them next year.
“Aleksey was an intelligent, energetic young man, with tremendous talent and an extremely bright future,” said Rangers general manager Glen Sather to the media. “We are extremely saddened.”
After the tragic news, the New York Rangers held a minute's silence in tribute to Cherepanov.
Related links
Cherepanov's obituary @ New York Rangers website
Russian Hockey Superleague: first play-off games see no surprises
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