FanHouse Alexei Cherepanov

Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like the American job market pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

There's been a lot of discussion on rule changes in the NHL recently. Most of it has centered around fighting and the current point system. There was also the Rangers obtaining a compensatory pick for the late Alexei Cherepanov, which some have gotten some folks debating the merits of that ruling. Today, we'll dive into all of that and more!

Blackhawks 3, Hurricanes 2: The Carolina Hurricanes had their four-game winning streak snapped thanks to a 3-2 shootout loss in Chicago, though they still managed to gain an important point thanks to Tuomo Ruutu's game-tying goal with just 27 seconds to play in regulation, sending the game to overtime.

With the Hurricanes trailing, 2-1, Chicago's Jonathan Toews was called for hooking Carolina's Chad LaRose late in the third period. Just 36 seconds later, Ruutu beat Cristobal Huet for his 21st goal of the season.

Late last week, Kontinental Hockey League head Alexander Medvedev sat for an interesting and wide-ranging Q&A session with Jeff Klein and Stu Hackel of the New York Times. As I've noted before, while the KHL was launched with much fanfare last September, the league's inaugural season has been something of a bumpy ride.

So while many of us might have seen the KHL as a legitimate competitor to the NHL on the international level in the run-up to this season, some recent events -- not the least of which was the in-game death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov and reported financial problems with a number of franchises -- have made us think a little harder of how much time and effort it will take before the league emerges as a rival to the NHL.

Still, Medvedev and his counterparts in the Russian hockey world are pressing on, determined that they deserve to have a seat at the table as equals with North America on wide variety of issues like player transfer agreements. But perhaps most important of all these days is continued NHL participation in the Winter Olympics.

The Kontinental Hockey League's (KHL) investigation into the death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov has entered the penalty phase, and the league has gotten busy kicking tail and taking names. According to the league's North American public relations firm, the following suspensions were announced at a press conference in Moscow earlier Friday:

Yesterday we passed along a story from the Associated Press that said Russian authorities investigating the death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov had discovered evidence of "doping" of some kind. If that's the truth, then perhaps we shouldn't be surprised.

After all, it was a little more than a year ago that Random House published King of Russia, a memoir by former NHL head coach Dave King that recounted his year coaching Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Russian Super League. It was that book, co-written by hockey Globe and Mail reporter Eric Duhatscheck, that leveled some serious charges about an anything-goes attitude concerning performance-enhancing drugs in Russian hockey -- allegations that also involved Pittsburgh Penguins forward and current NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.

Once again, my friend Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport has come through with a timely translation, this time of a November 2007 interview Sovetsky's Pavel Lysenkov did with King in the wake of the publication of the book. The initial interview raised such a ruckus in Russian hockey circles that Genndi Velichkin, Metallurg's managing director, insisted that he have a chance to answer the charges and in particular, to defend the reputation of former Metallurg trainer Viktor Gudzik. In the process, Velichkin also enveloped Penguins winger Petr Sykora and Devils forward Patrick Elias in the controversy.

Gudzik is better known in Russia for training Elena Elesina, the winner of the gold medal in the women's high jump at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. After leaving Metallurg, Gudzik took a job with Avangard Omsk, the team that Cherepanov played for, but was dismissed about a year ago. His current whereabouts are unknown. Chesnokov's translation of both interviews follows after the jump.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Russian authorities investigating the death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov have uncovered evidence that he was engaged in blood doping. The report from the AP reads as follows:

Russia's federal Investigative Committee released a statement Monday saying the samples allow a conclusion "that for several months Alexei Cherepanov engaged in blood doping." There was no elaboration.

So what exactly is blood doping? Here's the Wikipedia definition:

Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells (RBCs) in the circulation in order to enhance athletic performance. Because they carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, more RBCs in the blood can improve an athlete's aerobic capacity (VO₂ max) and endurance.

According to a flash report from the Associated Press, Russian prosecutors have fixed the blame for the untimely death of New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov. As you might recall, Cherepanov, who played for Avangard Omsk, died after returning to the bench during a game with Vityaz in October:

Prosecutors said in a statement posted on their Web site Tuesday that the manager of the Moscow region arena where Cherepanov was playing failed to coordinate proper emergency medical services before the game.

[...]

Investigators said Cherepanov apparently had chronic ischemia - a medical condition where not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs. They said that calls in question the competency of arena manager Yury Afonkin and the director of opposing club KHL club Vityaz. The club director, Mikhail Denisov, has already been fired.

A preliminary report released last month by the KHL absolved the on-site medical staff who were at the game for any blame in Cherepanov's death. As to whether or not this conclusion will result in any prosecutions, Russian authorities have yet to say. In any case, Cherepanov's death certainly has cast a pall over the league's operations, which Russian hockey officials hope one day may challenge the NHL for global supremacy in international ice hockey.

According to reports out of Russia that have been confirmed for me by Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport, New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov, currently playing for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, has died.



Piecing together multiple translations with Chesnokov's help, I've been able to confirm the following sequence of events:

In the 18th minute of the third period of Avangard Omsk's game against Chekhov Vityaz, Cherepanov collided with Jaromir Jagr during a line change. Once Cherepanov got to the bench, he collapsed, and team doctors determined that his heart had stopped and immediately began attempts to revive him.

Cherepanov was then transported to an unnamed hospital in Moscow where doctors attempted to revive him for about an hour before he was declared dead of cardiac arrest at 22:55 local time/2:55 p.m. U.S. EDT.

While other hockey writers are grasping at straws trying to manufacture storylines, the New York Post's Larry Brooks, whose Slap Shots column is on hiatus until the middle of September, keeps pushing out newsworthy copy. The latest -- a report saying that ex-NHLPA head Ted Saskin is prepared to testify against his former employer and on behalf of the league when it comes to an important detail inside the CBA regarding European-based players:

The issue at hand concerns the status of drafted European players who do not sign before June 2 of the second calendar year following their selections. Article 8.6 of the CBA states that clubs lose their rights to such players if they are not signed on or by that date.

[...]

The NHL, however, is claiming that the absence of transfer agreements with European hockey federations renders that portion of the CBA obsolete. It is the league's position that those unsigned players revert to what was known as "defected status" under the CBA that expired on Sept. 15, 2004, and thus remain the property of their drafting clubs forever.

So what's the angle for Brooks? Of immediate concern to his hometown Rangers is the status of 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherapanov, currently playing with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. That would mean that Cherapanov, among others, would be eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal if he remains unsigned. The arbitration hearing where Saskin will appear is scheduled for tomorrow.

But here's where it gets a little hairier. Cherepanov, who announced last month that he'd be playing in Russia this upcoming season instead of in North America, is represented by The Puck Agency (they're blogging these days too) the same folks who represent erstwhile Nashville Predators winger Alexander Radulov. If this interview uncovered by Beyond the Blueshirts is any indication, Cherepanov is all too aware of the potential mine field he has to negotiate these days.

This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.

Name: Alexei Cherepanov
Team/League: Omsk/Russia
Vitals: 6'0", 183 pounds, right wing, shoots left
Born: January 15, 1989 in Barnaul, Russia

The unimportant stuff: #1-ranked European Skater by CSB... #4-ranked overall by ISS... broke Pavel Bure's Russian Elite League rookie record of 17 goals scored with 18... had more points (29) as a 17-year-old than Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk or Evgeni Malkin... concerns that he lacks the mental and physical makeup of an Ovechkin or Malkin.

The important stuff: These Europeans are all personality-less robots (at least there's nothing available on most of them in the Media Draft Guide), so check out this highlight video of "The Siberian Express":

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match: The Kings sure could use a defenseman, but may find Cherepanov's skills too tempting to pass on if he's available at number four (which I believe will be the case, as Patrick Kane, Kyle Turris and James van Riemsdyk look to be the top three picks). If they go with needs and take a defenseman (likely Karl Alzner) or go for the slightly safer (and some would say better) forward (Jakub Voracek), Washington will likely take Cherepanov fifth. For now, let's pencil in another Russian Alex for the Caps.

Bonus profile after the jump!