The rise of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League has left NHL fans across North America worried about the prospect of young Russian stars choosing to stay in their homeland rather than migrating to the United States. Now, hockey fans worldwide have much more to be worried about. During a game on Monday, nineteen-year-old Avangard Omsk forward Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench and was declared dead hours later. Cherepanov was chosen 17th overall by the New York Rangers in last year's entry draft.
Widely recognized as an extremely talented young forward, Cherepanov was a consensus top-10 draft pick. At age 17, he put up 18 goals and 11 assists in 46 games for Avangard Omsk. Even more impressive for a young forward, he ended the season at plus-14, a value representing the goal differential for when a specific player is on the ice. Cherepanov also shined at World Juniors, where he tallied eight points through six games in 2007 and six points across six games in 2008.
Touting him as the next Evgeni Malkin was perhaps a bit optimistic; however, Cherepanov's ceiling was sky-high.
Due to the lack of a transfer agreement between the KHL and the NHL -- and Cherepanov's existing contract with Avangard Omsk -- he fell all the way to 17th in the NHL draft. It was fairly obvious that the Rangers had pulled off a massive draft-day coup, provided they could pry Cherepanov away from the KHL.
This season, under the tutelage of former NHL great Jaromir Jagr, Cherepanov was off to a quick start with Avangard, totaling 13 points in the season's first 15 games. In Monday's game against Vityaz Chekhov, he went to the bench following a shift and collapsed. He was revived in the dressing room for a brief period of time, and again in the emergency room, but doctors were unable to keep his heart beating.
Cherepanov's death was a tragedy, and possibly a preventable one. He likely died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a common cause of cardiac arrest in young athletes. Mitch Frerotte of the Buffalo Bills and Joe Kennedy of the Oakland Athletics both died in a similar manner. In the wake of his death, recriminations are flying among KHL league officials, Chekhov stadium personnel, the government and the NHL. It is clear that several things went wrong.
First, unlike all professional rinks in North American hockey leagues, the Chekhov arena did not have a functioning defibrillator, ambulance or even a stretcher. There is supposed to be an ambulance on call, but it had left the arena already. Cherepanov had to be carried off the ice by his teammates, not trained medical personnel. With proper equipment and staff, it is possible that he could have survived.
Chekhov is a suburb of Moscow with access to some of the best medical facilities in Russia, including specialists and equipment that other Russian cities do not have. While the KHL wants to be taken seriously by Russian fans, the NHL and professional hockey players everywhere, it sends a terrible message: Namely, that the league and its teams were willing to drop millions of dollars on players but not spend the marginal amount of money necessary to ensure proper medical care at all its facilities.
The NHL has shown that its medical staffs are extremely capable, as illustrated by the lifesaving response when Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik had his throat cut by a skate in early February. The NHL should offer assistance to the KHL in devising adequate procedures for emergency medicine on-ice and facilitate the testing and sharing of medical information between the leagues.
What is additionally surprising about this case is that the Rangers did not find Cherepanov's heart condition during their pre- or post-draft physical examinations, even though hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is detectable. In the wake of the death of the Ontario Hockey League's Mickey Renaud from similar causes, all young hockey players are extensively tested for heart problems. However, if the testing programs were unable to detect Cherepanov's condition, it may be necessary to further refine the procedures in order to prevent this sort of tragedy in the future.
If the KHL was in any way negligent, this tragedy will further sour an already strained relationship between it and the NHL. The personal impact for Cherepanov's family, friends and teammates -- which is obviously tremendous -- aside, his talent represented an investment for the Rangers. For the Rangers and other teams, securing that investment and other young talents in the future might necessitate preventing those prospects from developing in the KHL.
That would be a massive loss for a league that is still trying to get on its feet. The possibility that future NHL stars are being put at unnecessary risk will mean fewer Russian players picked at high slots, and fewer NHL draftees playing in the KHL. Neither one of those is a good outcome for either league.
