Last night started with a somber announcement by the Rangers about the death of Alexei Cherepanov, the murmurs in the crowd indicating that this was news to a number of attendees. But it ended on a positive note that Cherepanov would have approved of -- the Rangers winning their fifth straight to start the season (seventh straight including the two Victoria Cup matches), tying a club record. The heroes again were Brandon Dubinsky (who, against all odds, leads the NHL in scoring at this moment) and Aaron Voros, who scored two power play goals by setting up screens in front of Martin Brodeur and deflecting point shots past him.
The Rangers are winning in large part due to special teams play. The power play may not have an overwhelming success rate (slightly north of 20%), but more important than stats are the quality of power play goals -- three of the five game winners have been power play goals, one power play goal has been an equalizer, and another has been a game clincher. And the penalty killing -- just perfect, with 21 straight kills.
Last night, the Rangers held the Devils without a shot for a 14-minute span of the first period and outshot the Devils 14-3 over a span of more than 22 minutes through the middle of the second period. The Rangers were outshot over the next 20 minutes by 13-3, but two of their three shots were goals. And those shots didn't start to mount up right away -- as the Devils stepped up the pressure, they found their shooting lanes blocked by Ranger backchecking. And Henrik Lundqvist was solid, having now allowed just five goals in four games.
The comparison of Voros with Sean Avery was inevitable with Brodeur and the Devils in town. At Blueshirt Bulletin+ today, we examine the notion that Voros is Avery's happy twin, with support from Voros himself, Dubinsky, Renney, Lundqvist, and even Brodeur and Devils coach Brent Sutter. Click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to take out a subscription to get the magazine as well as BB+.
Game reports: Newsday, Journal News, Daily News, Record, Times, Post, Star-Ledger, NY Sports Day, NYR.com, NHL.com, MSG.com, and AP. More from Newsday on Lundqvist, the Record on Avery, NHL.com on the Dubinsky line, the Ledger here, here, here, here, here, and here, and Inside Shots. Even more from the reporters' blogs -- Rangers Report here and here, Ranger Rants, Blue Notes, Blue Seats, Hockey Rodent, and Fire and Ice. Elsewhere, the Rangers' 5-0 start has them rising to or toward the top of various "Power Rankings" -- see FoxSports and Yahoo! Sports. At WP.com, see Bob Crawford's Wolf Pack Weekly.
Questions remain about the tragic death of Cherepanov, especially with the level of care available at the small 3,000 seat arena in the Moscow suburb of Chekhov. Omsk coach Wayne Fleming told Eric Duhatchek of the Globe and Mail via cell phone that Cherepanov had a "previosuly undetected heart condition." See the many reports at Newsday, the Journal News, Times, Post here and here, ESPN, Sportsnet.ca, TSN.ca, THN.com, NHL.com here and here, PA Sports Ticker, and AP, as well as perhaps even more detail in the reporters' blogs -- Slap Shot here and here, Rangers Report, Ranger Rants here and here, Blue Notes, and MSG.com. Beyond the Blueshirts has a translation of an on-site account.
Jess Rubenstein and Mitch Beck both met Cherepanov on the day he was drafted. They are among the very very few people writing about this tragedy who have actually spoken to him. See what they have to say at Prospect Park and Howlings.
Omsk coach Wayne Fleming told Eric Duhatchek of the Globe and Mail via cell phone that Cherepanov had a "previosuly undetected heart condition.
THATS BS AT ITS FINEST.My god the kid died the least they can do is dont lie about it.What kind of Sh***y doctors they have that they didnt detect it? Yeah my story proves my point (from last thread) but this are profesional athletes not 11 y/o kids.
All they do is admit that thats their fault and they dont even realize that they doing that.
Posted by: Ant | October 14, 2008 at 04:43 PM
Ant
No It is not BS as I know from my own experience covering the prospects (this is the 3 prospect in a single year with a heart issue) that it is very possible that you can miss a heart defect.
Mickey Renaud, David Carle and now Cherepanov
And Ant I am no fan of the KHL
Posted by: Jess | October 14, 2008 at 07:49 PM
Ant,
I'm with Jess on this one. Also don't forget that he was tested extensively here prior to the draft and unless this condition develop rapidly in less than 2 years it shoud've been identified then also.
The other side of the issue is poor emergency response by medics over there and whether it would've made the difference if the response was quicker and the necessary equipment was readily available which we are now never going to find out. But then it goes much deeper because if this is what top professional athletes get what about the average folk? Scary. There should be new rules and procedure put in place that would have to be followed rigorously, but it's never going to return Cherry to his family and to us, his fans... One saying that I heard yesterday left a strong impression for me and it roughly translates as follows: "All emergency procedures and rules are written in blood." How true...
Posted by: kovazub94 | October 14, 2008 at 08:25 PM
I'm glad the Rangers won last night but yesterday was a sh***y New York sports day. Z
Posted by: CraigZ | October 14, 2008 at 08:27 PM
very bad medic response. I agree with you Jess totally on that one. But nowadays there should be more caution.
Posted by: jagrmiester | October 14, 2008 at 09:22 PM
Mike Francessa has a doctor on, and he basically said they screwed up but didnt totally say that.
Posted by: jagrmiester | October 14, 2008 at 09:23 PM
Had*
Posted by: jagrmiester | October 14, 2008 at 09:41 PM
Yeah maybe i was just really pissed when i typed that sorry.Im just in shock still thats all i couldnt wait for him to come here.
Posted by: Ant | October 14, 2008 at 09:51 PM
First time posting here. Its crazy when things like happen. We look at sports players as stats and post game remarks. This kid was just a kid. Makes you realize our heroes are mortal.
On a side note, i was checking out every hockey site i knew of to see if there was anything new. i happened to come across hockeybuzz... anyone see how eklund "broke the news" pretty much just saying that a video will be posted online soon. Really classless.
Posted by: AnthonyF | October 14, 2008 at 11:53 PM
All
We can wonder if an ambulance on the scene would have made a difference.
Same for a working defib unit
But as much as I hate to say this I have to: Even under the most perfect of conditions the odds are good that Cherepanov still would have been lost to us as well.
I have watched hockey players, football players, basketball players and other athletes all young all lose their lives because as advanced as we are today the human body still remains the greatest mystery of all.
Posted by: Jess | October 15, 2008 at 02:50 AM
From the Omsk official web site, a tribute to Alexei (it's in russian):
http://www.mos-hawks.ru/
A link to a video from "Russia Today" with footage from the memorial service:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZFnJ-_vxDI&eurl=http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/hockey-night-in-europe-the-aftermath-of-tragedy/
Posted by: LisaMY | October 15, 2008 at 02:52 AM
I'm inclined to agree with Jess. No, I don't have a medical background. But from what I've read about the attempts to save him (and they were numerous), it sounds like this young man's heart just gave out. A working defibrillator might have revived him in the short term, long enough to get him to the hospital, but it sounds like his heart was done. It's very sad to say that about someone who's 19 years old. But it has happened before.
I think a lot is being lost in translation and what we think right now is the final diagnosis will change. No, this didn't happen at MSG, and he didn't get the benefit of a high-profile NYC ER hospital staff. But don't think for one moment that the doctors in Russia that attended to him didn't care about doing everything they could to save this young man's life. I can't believe for one minute they didn't do everything within their means to help him. I know we're all shocked and saddened by this, but I think it's wrong to cry "foul" on the doctors at this point.
Posted by: LisaMY | October 15, 2008 at 03:13 AM
my wife is an RN and I told her what happened to Alexie and she said if they had proper medical equipment and the EMS workers got there in a timley manner, 5 - 10 minutes instead of the reports of 45 he would still be living but probably not able to play hockey at the level he was used to.
Posted by: Paul R _ _ _ _ _ D | October 15, 2008 at 08:44 AM
R.I.P. Alexi
Posted by: Russki60 | October 15, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Tampa signs Malik... http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=252644&lid=sublink09&lpos=headlines_nhl
Posted by: alex7NYC | October 15, 2008 at 12:12 PM