Ranger’s Prospect Alexei Cherepanov Dies At 19 (Photos)

New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov died during a hockey game in Russia on Monday night. Alexei Cherepanov was only 19. Read more about Alexei Cherepanov’s tragic death below.

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Such sad news! Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench near the end of Avangard Omsk’s Continental Hockey League (KHL) game and died a short time later.

Omsk head coach Wayne Fleming told TSN that medical personnel tried to restart Cherepanov’s heart after it had stopped.

Alexei Cherepanov and a teammate ran into one another during a line change and soon after developed heart complications.

“He was a great kid,” Cherepanov’s agent, Jay 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 were shocked upon learning of Alexei Cherepanov’s death.

“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 was in 14 games with Avangard Omsk this season, getting seven goals and five assists for 12 points. Alexei 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.

Alexei Cherepanov, the 6′ 1″ 187 lb. young man 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.

In his past 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), which overshadowed Pavel Bure’s mark (17) set in 1988-89 with the Red Army (CSKA Moscow).

Cherepanov earned top forward honors and was chosen for 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.

Alexei Cherepanov, a Barnaul, Russia native was the Rangers’ first-round choice, 17th overall, in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

This is such sad news, our condolences to Alexei Cherepanov’s friends and family.

Images: PR

Source: news

Posted by: Monya

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