Thousands Pay Respects To Cherepanov

((HT: CP))

Family, friends, teammates and thousands of fans paid their last respects Wednesday to Alexei Cherepanov, the 19-year-old rising hockey star who died after suffering heart problems during a game outside Moscow.

The cause of his death was still under investigation, federal investigators said Wednesday. A first-round draft pick for the New York Rangers, Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during a game Monday outside Moscow.

State television showed mourners in his Siberian hometown lining up on a red carpet placed on the ice in the arena of Cherepanov's team, Avangard Omsk, to lay flowers at his coffin.

Crowds of mourners followed as pallbearers carried the coffin, draped with white cloth, from the arena to Omsk's Staro-Severnoye Cemetery, where Cherepanov was buried.

Some onlookers were so overcome with grief they had to be restrained.

"It is hard to evaluate today the depth of the loss felt by the family of Alexei, Russian sport, and the Avangard team," said Leonid Polezhayev, the governor of the Omsk region, in comments to Russian agency Regnum.

"Alexei Cherepanov wasn't only a talented athlete and a reliable comrade, he was an idol of modern youth."

TSN's Bob McKenzie is still of the thought that there are more questions than answers when it comes to the rink-side death of Cherepanov. He interviewed Dr. Anthony Colucci, who was in charge when the Detroit Red Wings Jiri Fischer collapsed in 2005. Colucci doubts the inital diagnosis of "chronic ischemia."

"Ischemia is a coronary vessel disease," Dr. Colucci added, "and you can see it on an EKG (electrocardiogram). It's not that hard to detect. And to say a 19 year old has 'chronic' ischemia, I mean he's only 19, how chronic can it be? I am not saying ischemia can't kill a person but if that was the cause of death I can't tell you how unusual or rare that would be in this instance."

According to McKenzie and his investigation, Russian authorities also alluded to Cherepanov having a "hypertrophic" heart, which is a thickening of the heart wall and that, Dr. Colucci, said is more likely what caused Cherepanov to collapse on the bench and ultimately die.

The rest of McKenzie's interview with Colucci can be found in black...