Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov dies in KHL 19 year old

Cherepanov, 19, one of the New York Rangers' top prospects, lost consciousness on the bench near the end of a game in Russia's Continental Hockey League - known as the KHL - between his Avangard Omsk and Vityaz. He died of cardiac arrest, according to the Russian newspaper Gazeta.

The ambulance which had been at the rink when the game started had left, and various Russian media reports indicate it took upwards of 45 minutes for it to return. However other medical personal tried to revive Cherepanov.

Cherepanov was carried off the bench without the aid of a stretcher.

Cherepanov's agent, Jay Grossman told the New York Post there was still brain activity with Cherepanov arrived at the hospital, but he died shortly later.

"We lost a life today; that's the bottom line," Rangers coach Tom Renney told the Post. "He's a Ranger, and his loss will have an impact on all of us in our own personal ways.

"This serves as an inspiration for the rest of us not to take anything for granted."

The cause of the heart attack hasn't been revealed, but it doesn't appear to have been caused by an on-ice incident.

"He was a great kid," Grossman told TSN. "He had a great smile and was an outstanding player with a great future on and off the ice. It's both shocking and devastating news for all of us."

The Rangers held a moment of silence prior to Monday's game against the New Jersey Devils.

"We are extremely saddened by the tragic passing of Alexei," Rangers president/general manager Sather said in a statement. "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."

Cherepanov appeared in 14 games with Avangard Omsk this season, registering seven goals and five assists for 12 points. He ranked second on the team in goals and fourth in points. He also ranked third on the team with a 24.1 per cent shooting percentage.

The 6-1, 187-pounder appeared in 106 career Russian Super League/KHL matches with Avangard Omsk, collecting 40 goals and 29 assists for 69 points, along with 61 penalty minutes. Last season, Cherepanov established a career-high in assists (13) while finishing fourth on the club in points (28). In 2006-07, he set the RSL record for most goals by a rookie (18), eclipsing Pavel Bure's mark (17) set in 1988-89 with the Red Army (CSKA Moscow). With 29 points in his first season with Omsk, Cherepanov recorded more points than Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk each tallied in their first RSL season.

Internationally, Cherepanov represented Russia in several elite tournaments. Most recently, he helped lead Russia to a bronze medal in the 2008 world junior championship, tallying three goals and three assists for six points and a plus-3 rating in six games.

Cherepanov earned top forward honours and was selected to the all-tournament team at the 2007 world junior championship, where he led all players in scoring with eight points (five goals and three assists) in six games and helped Team Russia capture a silver medal.

"He was a tremendously talented player, energetic," New Jersey Devils head coach Brent Sutter, who coached against Cherepanov internationally, told the Bergan Record. "I liked him as a player."

The Barnaul, Russia native was originally the Rangers' first-round choice, 17th overall, in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

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[UwantRadie]

Un-fucking-believable that you are using this tragedy to try and hawk something.

I hope you feel the pain that his family feels for doing such a terrible act.

Noramally i would not wish such harm on someone but you deserve it, you arent even human.

[joestyllo]

ya u fuckin asshole, whoever made this vid, i agree your the biggest asshole in the world for this

[nyr9994]

Y would u use THIS to advertise for a stupid company! Dude this was frickin serious!!!

[madfootballkid]

@LAK1NG5rule yea man thats the reason why cherepanov went to that league...to play with jamier jagr

[LAK1NG5rule]

jagr was the last person cherepanov talked to

[Victoria65879]

poor kid thats just tragic...

that is a horrid way of advertising

[BalzacPunk666]

this video was his last shift. he collapses at the end it just doesnt show it. but wtf with the advertising?

[YortAnem]

Oh, now I know what you mean, my bad. This is good advertising, but, like you said, it shouldn't be on a video where someone actually dies.

[YortAnem]

Alright, we all have different opinions, I can't change yours, you can't change mine. That makes sense.

[YortAnem]

Horrible way of advertising, not great.

[fionbgp]

wow wtf

[YungTManTV]

Were you talking to me, or to NYRounsNYI?