DEVELOPING: Yaroslavl Withdrawing From KHL

((HT: RussiaToday))

It appears that the season for the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl franchise and their affiliation with the league is on hold...

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Yaroslavl would be demoted to a lower league, the Major Hockey League, as part of a gradual rebuilding program.

Lokomotiv president Yury Yakovlyev says the team might begin playing in December...

Here's video from the ceremonial mass in Minsk- where Lokomotiv was to play their KHL season opener...


In other news, the lone player that survived the plane crash has died from his injuries in hospital. Alexander Galimov suffered burns over 90-percent of his body and was a local product of the Lokomotiv system...

DEVELOPING: KHL Yaroslavl Franchise In Plane Crash, 36 Reported Dead

A Yak-42 passenger jet carrying members of the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed on takeoff with the majority of players from the roster on board. Numbers from 43 to 37 were reported on board- presumably including crew and officers. The lone survivor is said to have critical injuries.

A handful of former NHLers were on Yaroslavl's roster, including Ruslan Salei, Pavol Demitra, and head coach (and former Atlanta Thrashers assistant) Brad McCrimmon. No word on who and how many from the roster were on board the plane itself, but there is talk that the plane was packed with the entire roster... details below...

According to Puck Daddy, the franchise was heading to its KHL season opener in Belarus.

From Puck Daddy:

Lokomotiv official tells Sovetsky Sport 'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.' Lokomotiv official said the entire team was on the plane because they were traveling for the 1st game of the season, a celebration.


More when we know more...

Here's Russian news coverage from Russia24 and youtube


"People were drawn to Demo. He was a great friend and great teammate," Matt Keator, Demitra's agent, told Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "He was always the type to bring people together. This is just awful. He was such a popular guy with everyone he has ever played with."

Here's crash scene video, thanks to youtube again...


"We have no team anymore," Vladimir N. Malkov, the team spokesman, said in a telephone interview with The New York Times. "All our starting players, and all the service people, they all burned in the crash."

Coach Brad McCrimmon, forward Pavol Demitra, defenseman Ruslan Salei, forward Josef Vasicek, defenseman Karel Rachunek, forward Jan Marek, forward Alexander Vasyunov, defenseman Karlis Skrastins and goalie Stefan Liv are among the confirmed fatalities.

As of 1400 HRS, the only survivor in the crash is one of the crew...

When Drunk Fans Attack...

((HT: Deadspin/KHL))

You wouldn't necessarily figure hockey would be the answer here, but it is after all the KHL...

Ufa and Avtomobilist from Sunday... and an Avto fan just took a stick to the Ufa back-up goalie's head... or something... after he got away with a rabbit punch to start the whole thing...



Hey, look at it this way... if you're a player over there, it's tax free.
But you'll need the money to take care of all the independent hospital bills you pick up along the way...

The KHL IS Good For Something...

((HT: Fanhouse/Botta))

One of the best hockey brawls in recent memory... Vityaz and Avangard...

Former Tampa Bay Lightning player Alexander Svitov starts it off at the :30 mark. And since everyone got involved- more than once- both teams didn't have enough players to finish...

And, yes, you see Jaromir Jagr getting involved...

Both teams had to forfeit and were fined by the league a grand total of $33,500. Vityaz, since they "started it," were fined an additional $100-grand.

Botta also says that, in response, Vityaz has signed both Josh Gratton and Chris Simon... wonder why they're there...???

Here's the highlights from the league show...
((HT: KHL))

Russian Investigators Reopen Cherepanov Probe

((HT: CP))

Prosecutors will reopen the investigation into the death of New York Rangers draft pick Alexei Cherepanov((pictured, thanks Gregory Shamus/Getty)), who collapsed during a Continental Hockey League game last year in Russia.

The federal prosecutor's Investigative Committee ruled last month that team doctors were not to blame for Cherepanov's death and would face no criminal charges. Investigators said doctors with Siberian team Avangard Omsk had no reason to suspect the 19-year-old suffered from a chronic heart problem and therefore did not prescribe the medicine he was taking.

But the committee on Monday reopened the case and ordered that new medical tests be carried out in a federal centre for forensic medicine.

Cherepanov, a first-round pick in 2007, died after collapsing on the bench during an Oct. 13 game in Chekhov, a town outside Moscow. Authorities say an autopsy showed he suffered from myocarditis, a condition that obstructs blood flow to the heart and other organs.

The investigators' initial conclusion seemed to lay more blame on Cherepanov than anyone else. They said Cherepanov most likely felt unwell but hid his condition from team doctors for fear of being pulled from games.

Cherepanov's mother, Margarita, rejected the conclusions, and insisted that her son was healthy.

In December, the Investigative Committee said medical experts had concluded from analysis of blood and urine samples that Cherepanov "engaged in doping" for several months before his death.

But in their July ruling investigators said he had been taking cordiaminum, which apparently stimulates circulation and breathing as well as the central nervous system, suggesting he may have been taking it to treat his condition.

Avangard's president, general manager and a team doctor were suspended indefinitely from positions in the league, and another Avangard doctor was suspended for two years.

The president of the host club, Vityaz, also was suspended indefinitely amid complaints about medical services at the arena.

Here's the incident in question...
Thanks to unrealhockey.ru and hockeywebcast

KHL Owner Wants a Franchise, Too...

((HT: TSN/CP))

Alexander Medvedev, the billionaire owner of Russia's Continental Hockey League, is interested in buying an NHL franchise.

"We have considered 10 opportunities, we have short-listed three and we continue to look at these three teams," Medvedev said Tuesday at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. "We will just make our due diligence.

"It's a very strange situation when real hockey (cities) like Quebec don't have an NHL team."

It might be even stranger that someone who has such a chilly relationship with the NHL would even express interest in the possibility of owning a team. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via email that he wasn't aware of any serious efforts by Medvedev to buy a team.

Daly and Medvedev are expected meet later this week at the world championship.

Medvedev says he hasn't had any formal discussions with the NHL since a meeting with commissioner Gary Bettman during the Hockey Hall of Fame's induction weekend last November. Despite a rocky start to relations between the KHL and NHL, Medvedev believes the two leagues might one day find common ground.

"I believe we have a great potential of co-operation with NHL," he said. "The ball is on their side. We could do quite a lot together to develop hockey both in Europe and North America."

The leagues remain without a formal player transfer agreement and it's extremely unlikely the NHL would ever welcome Medvedev into its ownership circle.

Even though the Russian league ran into some financial difficulty during its first season, Medvedev remains committed to trying to expand throughout Europe.

He says that he's recently received a letter from Farjestads GM Hakan Loob on behalf of five Swedish teams that are interested in discussing the future of European hockey. Those five teams -- Farjestads, Frolunda, Djurgarden, Linkoping and HV71 -- recently informed the Swedish Elite League that they intended to pull out after next season.

Medvedev hopes to sit down with the Swedish teams sometime next month but doesn't want to rush expansion. He indicated that it's important the proper moves are made to help the league emerge from some of its financial problems.

"I believe that crisis time is the best time to discuss future options," said Medvedev. "Because we should come from crisis stronger, more competitive with better hockey, because if we will not our fans will not forgive us."

The KHL had 24 teams for its inaugural season -- some of whom had trouble paying salaries. Medvedev says that any team that still owes money to its players by the end of May "will lose the right to play."

"We don't need clubs with debts," said Medvedev. "We don't want to repeat the mistakes of NHL when 10 clubs already in big trouble."

He remains optimistic about the future of his league despite facing many challenges so far.
"Every new idea has an opposition and people afraid to face new challenges," said Medvedev. "Again, the major criteria should be the public who should decide what's better for the development of hockey."

Report: Cherepanov Was Doping

((HT: CP))

Blood and urine samples show former hockey star Alexei Cherepanov ((pictured, thanks Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)) took performance-enhancing drugs, Russian investigators said in a statement Monday.

Cherepanov, 19, collapsed October 13 while on the bench for Omsk club Avangard in Russia's Continental Hockey League, or the KHL as it is known. The player, a top prospect of the NHL's New York Rangers, died a short time later.

Russia's federal Investigative Committee said a chemical analysis of the samples allowed experts to conclude "that for several months Alexei Cherepanov engaged in doping." A spokeswoman at the committee refused to specify the drugs that Cherepanov allegedly took.

The statement also said Cherepanov suffered from myocarditis, a condition where not enough blood gets to the heart, and the Russian should not have been playing pro hockey.

The club's medical team might carry legal liability in the episode, the statement added.

"A row of gross violations was committed by the medical brigade helping A. Cherepanov," the statement said. Among them, doctors arrived on the scene a full 12 minutes after Cherepanov collapsed, and the battery on the defibrillator used to attempt shock Cherepanov's heart back to life was drained, the statement said.

Prosecutors earlier this month accused the club's director of negligence. Mikhail Denisov has since been fired, and Monday's statement did not mention him.

KHL To Investigate Cherepanov Death

((HT: CP))

Russia's Continental Hockey League is saying they will conduct their own investigation into the death of 19-year-old Avangard Omsk player and New York Rangers Number One Draft Pick Alexei Cherepanov.

KHL Managing Director Vladimor Shalaev will lead a special commission to "conduct an exhaustive investigation into all aspects of the situation." The group expects to cooperate with state and local authorities.

Federal investigators say that the cause of death is currently unclear.

"The KHL is committed to the safety of our players and will ensure that all member teams provide the highest level of medical care for our players," league president Alexander Medvedev said.

Cherepanov was diagnosed, initally for a cause of death, with "chronic ischemia." Regional investigators are currently asking why this condition went undetected for as long as it reportedly did.

Lawmaker Pavel Krasheninnikov, who sits on the Russian Hockey Federation's supervisory council, has been vocal in his personal displeasure as to why local medical personnel took too long to respond to the call at the game and arena. He also has complained that there was no ambulance on stand-by and no defibrillator present at the arena.

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...

McGuire: Handling of Cherepanov "Frightening"

In an interview with William Houston of the Globe and Mail, hockey analyst Pierre McGuire calls the handling of Alexei Cherepanov, in the moments surrounding his collapse "frightening."

McGuire also feels incidents like the one from Monday should give any athlete who is thinking about playing in the Continental Hockey League pause before jumping over there to play.

“It shows you how far behind the times the Russians are when it comes to medical assistance,” McGuire said. “When you see him on the bench, there is no medical support there. There is no stretcher. And you see the players carrying him off like a bag of potatoes.
“If players want to utilize the Continental league as a negotiation tool against the NHL, they should take a look at the YouTube video. It's frightening.”

This is what McGuire is referring to
((HT:Kukla's Corner/Alexovetjkin.blogspot.com/Puck Daddy))


It was revealed that Cherepanov died from chronic ischemia, a condition where an "inadequate amount of blood reaches the heart and other organs."

A member of the Russian Hockey Federation says there may have been negligence in the death of Cherepanov. There, apparently, was no ambulance on duty, the EMT's took too long to respond to the scene, and there was no defibrillator on site that worked.

Vladimir Shalayev, the managing director for the newly formed Russian league, said a preliminary autopsy showed Cherepanov had a “hypertrophied heart”.

“It has nothing to do with yesterday's game, there were absolutely no injuries,” Shalayev said in televised comments. “He was not injured during this game.”

Cherepanov's agent, Jay Grossman, said the player had tests at the NHL combine before last year's draft that didn't reveal any heart problems. He has been told that players in the Russian league receive regular heart and blood tests, similar to those given in the NHL.

REQUIRED READING: The Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek interviews Avangard Omsk Head Coach Wayne Fleming about Cherepanov and the game from Monday night in black...