First, Colin White tried to shove Aaron Voros out of Marty Brodeur's field of vision as a shot came from the point on a power play. Voros hung in. Another shot came, then Bryce Salavador came over to lean into Voros, who held his ground and Dan Girardi's shot hit Voros and flew by the Devs netminder at 6:37.
Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Cherepanov had just finished a shift in Omsk on Monday night, had a 2 on 1 and didn't score and were talking on the bench when the 19-year-old collapsed, according to Rangers executive John Rosasco.
Jagr said the doctors were good and that there didn't appear to be an issue with the medical treatment, except for the ambulance's late arrival, Rosasco said.
At 14:30, Brandon Dubinsky's slapper from the left boards ticked off Oduya's stick and off Brodeur's raised glove...
As expected, there was a pre-game moment of silence for Alexei Cherepanov
Cherepanov, a 19-year-old forward and one of the most promising prospects in the New York Rangers organization, collapsed and died---apparently from cardiac arrest---during a game in Russia Monday night, and the news cast a pall over the team before it faced the New Jersey Devils last night.
“We lost a life today, it’s a sad thing…a young fellow like that,” Rangers coach Tom Renney said of Cherepanov, the team’s No. 1 draft choice in 2007 who hoped to compete for a spot on the Rangers next season after playing this year with Jaromir Jagr on Avangard Omsk of the Continental Hockey League. “If it meant anything I’d go over myself and see the family…The first thing we can do is honor him with a great effort tonight.”
Jay Grossman, Cherepanov’s Westchester-based agent, said that late in the third period of Monday's game, Cherepanov suddenly collapsed on the ice and then again on the bench, and medical authorities couldn't revive him. "It doesn't appear there was a triggering event,” said Grossman, who spoke to other clients of his in the game as well as people in attendance. “He was skating to the bench and collapsed there. He was helped off and taken to the hospital.”
The teenager had been examined when he was at the Rangers’ practice facility in Westchester for a four-day developmental camp in August 2007 following the draft, and both Renney, Rangers assistant coach Mike Pelino and Grossman said they were unaware of any medical problems.
Information was sketchy, but one source said there were questions about whether an ambulance had already left the arena and took 20 minutes to return whether a defibrillator was working properly. “To point fingers at this point is kind of pointless, I think," said Grossman. “Obviously it was his heart that just gave way. That is pretty clear. It was probably an existing condition that he had."
Cherepanov, who scouts had rated much higher than the 17th choice in 2007 after playing two years for Omsk and scoring 33 goals and 24 assists in 92 games, slid to the Rangers because teams were concerned that the lack of a transfer agreement between the Russian league and the NHL would block him from coming to the U.S. But the Rangers took a chance on Cherepanov, who had seven goals and five assists in 14 games for Omsk, where Jagr had been mentoring him.
“The last conversations I had with Jaromir and (Omsk coach) Wayne (Fleming) was that he was playing really well and Jaromir thought that he could actually probably play on our second line right now,” said Renney.
Pelino, who was in Omsk from Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, on both a good will tour and to evaluate Cherepanov’s progress, described the Russian-born right wing as “very, very engaging. We went out for dinner, myself, Jagr and a few other guys on the team, He was just full of energy, enthusiasm and real excited….Just the way he asserted himself on the ice, he was someone who I was really excited about, that we really did get someone special here. He had things to work on, we felt he had to become a little stronger still. We felt he had to become a little more aware defensively, but as far as raw talent went, and an ability to score, he was great.”
Hello everyone. This is Rod Boone and I'll be with you guys through tonight's game between these two rivals. By now, I'm sure you have heard the sad news about Rangers prospect Alexi Cherepanov. Puts a little bit of a damper on things and keeps everything in perspective. But on a good note for Rangers fans, your team is going for its best start since 1984-84. First place in the Atlantic Division vs. the second place squad. Should be a good one. We'll see what happens.
One of my loyal tipsters called this in:
Second period today, 3-1 Leafs over Blues. Then, surprise, a Ryan Hollweg boarding penalty. Now it's 3-3.
Fritsche, acquired from Columbus during the summer, will skate on the left of Lauri Korpikoski and Ryan Callahan on the third line.
Patrick Rissmiller (right ankle) didn't skate in the optional, although he was in the workout room, and coach Tom Renney said once he decided that Rissmiller couldn't go, he opted for Fritsche (10-12-22 in 69 games for the Blue Jackets last season) over Nigel Dawes.
"It swelled up on him a bit after the skate yesterday and last night and we looked at him this morning and we thought it would be a better idea to rest that," said Renney. "I probably would have played Pat because of his size and I didn't get to see a lot of him in Philadelphia. Six or seven minutes isn't enough"
Asked if he wrestled with the decision between Dawes---who sat Saturday---and Fritsche, Renney said, "Big time." Fritsche needs to get in a game, Renney said, although Dawes has had some success against the Devils. "It's been too long for Danny. I think Danny will play strong, get in on the forecheck."
"I knew I would get my shot at some point," said Fritsche. "I've made sure I'll be ready when it happened."
****
G Henrik Lundqvist, who will start, practiced, but said he wouldn't have if he played Saturday. He also practiced yesterday in order to try out some new equipment, but was back to his regular gear today. The other skaters: Valiquette, Fritsche, Prucha, Callahan, Korpikoski, Dawes, Betts, Orr, Kalinin, Sjostrom.
****
Renney, who wore a black Victoria Cup warmup jacket, predicted that the Devils
would be competitive from the puck drop. "They don't give a ---- if we were 15-0. It's good for us. We're a little bit of a fatigued team."
More from the Garden later...
4-0's a nice way to start the season, but Renney must have seen enough he didn't like last night against Philly to warrant a session--albeit short--on the ice today.
Renney said he's not worried about anyone getting ahead of themselves thinking the team's devoid of problems despite their unbeaten record. Even thought he Rangers OWNED the Devils last year, Renney said, internally, the team knows exactly where they are, and what they need to do to beat a team like New Jersey, and that's gonna need to be much more than they've done so far these past four games.
***
Give it to Brandon Dubinsky for getting in some good shots and holding his own against Flyers' captain Mike Richards last night. If you didn't get the chance to see it, it's up on YouTube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcWB4RJ7hH0
Richards didn't give Dubinsky much of a choice last night, and Dubie said he's ready to go when he's challenged, but we shouldn't expect him to make a habit out of it. Tom Renney said if he does, he'd like to see him go after fights that are winnable, or at least tie-able.
I asked Dubinsky how he though he fared last night. His reply:
"Certainly better than some of my previous ones."
He pointed out last season's loss to Ottawa's Luke Richardson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4IwzhaUcuQ
I think that's a fair assessment.
--Katie Strang
