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The Consequences of Cherepanov
by Mike Chen on 10/14/08 at 12:06 PM ET
Comments (8)
It seems a little inconsequential to be discussing how the Alexei Cherepanov affects international hockey since the bottom line is that a kid just died, perhaps unnecessarily so. However, I know I’m not the only one who instantly wondered what was going through the minds of ex-NHLers who chose to go to the KHL or other NHLers who may have been contemplating that. Did it make them pause and wonder if they made the right choice?
In the NHL, you know you’re getting the best of everything: venues, resources, transportation, and medical care. I’ve never been to Russia, let alone a hockey arena there, so this is all going by news reports. However, to hear that the Russian arena lost its ambulance in the third period, didn’t have a stretcher available, and quite possibly didn’t have a working defibrillator, well, there are some amateur rinks that have better medical access than what happened to Cherepanov.
I think of Chris Pronger collapsing on the ice. I think of Jiri Fisher keeling over on the bench. I even think of Richard Zednick clutching his neck. All three were saved because of immediate professional medical attention—both trainers and doctors on site, ready and available with necessary equipment. Would those players have survived a similar situation in the KHL? I don’t know.
Does this situation make any NHL-quality player involved with the KHL think twice? If it were me, yeah, I’d definitely take a step back and wonder about. If there’s a 0.0001% chance that this happens on the ice, isn’t that remote possibility worth enough to a KHL paycheck to ensure that you have all the safety nets you need? It makes sense to me, but consider this—you could say the exact same thing about wearing a visor vs. losing an eye and you’ve still got players who refuse to do that.
Going by that logic, I don’t think you’ll see any change in players going to the KHL when money calls.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Alexei+Cherepanov, KHL,
Comments
1) Some good points Mike. We were contemplating writing a blog piece along those lines as well this morning, but thought some might see it as a bit callus to discuss such things before the kid has even been examined/cause of death known
2) We were criticized by many when we wrote last summer that we felt that a large section of Russia could still be considered a 3rd world country. There are ramifications to that, and perhaps a delay in potential life saving care is one of them? However, as we alluded to above, its too early to make any conclusions with respect to this specific case.
3) Some North American born/trained players who might have been on the fence about gong over to play in the KHL might now have a good excuse to stay closer to home. Time will tell if this affects anything. The only conclusion we make at this time is its a shame that hockey lost a budding star before he had a chance to shine
Posted by fauxrumors from Here on 10/14/08 at 12:18 PM ET
i think it’s also worth remembering that the arena that it was being played was one of the smallest in the KHL, and is in a small town..
i’d expect that the majority of KHL teams have all this stuff, but it should be a REQUIREMENT of the KHL to have it at all arenas, it’s just negligence otherwise.
but then again,
Russia does have this reputation of doing loads of high priced, expose shit and not having the safeguards in place. Just look at their nuclear program. They never make TV shows or films about any one else’s shit being stolen…
is the even a KHLPA? if not, there should be, since the safety of the players should be their PRIMARY concern.. I’d imagine Paul Kelly would put the NHLPA on strike immediately if anything like this happened in the NHL.
Posted by Pharazon from England on 10/14/08 at 12:43 PM ET
Maybe this was an NHL “hit” by Gary Buttman to hurt the KHL. I wouldn’t put anything past that midget.
Posted by kevin from boston on 10/14/08 at 01:07 PM ET
I would assume the KHL puts additional safety measures and equipment in place. It’s a tragedy to lose a young Russian playing a game, and it also protects the “investment” of the owners.
Posted by JL from Minneapolis on 10/14/08 at 01:24 PM ET
kevin from boston: come on man. This isn’t the time for quips like that.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 10/14/08 at 01:29 PM ET
Don’t forget Clint Malarchuk, too, Mike. Despite the recent events in Nevada, he is still alive because of the response of the Buffalo onsite medical staff in that nightmarishly horrific incident so many years ago. The hockey family remain indebted to the hardworking EMT teams and physicians saving so many lives.
With that level of care expected and enforced in NHL arenas, I think it was taken for granted that the same care would be found in the KHL. However, I do think that as sad as the passing of Cherepanov is, the KHL really needs to wake up and start enforcing emergency procedures. With all that money being flaunted by the magnates and new billionaires in front of the NHL players, surely there MUST be an equal concern for their welfare.
Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 10/14/08 at 01:50 PM ET
To my Bostonian counterpart…That was really uncalled for. Have some class man.
Anyway, the way I’m looking at this now is that it has happened, the proper medical stuff was not on hand to do any help, and they can’t take that back now. The important thing going forward is how the KHL deals with this. Will the come out, admit mistakes, and try to fix them? Or will they play the blame game, hide things, and end up doing nothing as a result of this tragedy. This could be a crossroads for the KHL, if they deal with this the right way, it could help them become a real competitor to the NHL, and a respectable place to play hockey, but if not, they could be headed down the road to bankruptcy, mass player exodus to other leagues, and yet another russian league ending and a new one starting… again.
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 10/14/08 at 02:02 PM ET
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I agree if they don’t have resources in building, like ambulance there, and even a doctor in the arena, they shouldn’t even be allowed to hold the game. Jiri Fisher lived, because red wings have top notch staff in building every time there is a game and that does go for most all NHL teams.
Posted by Arbiter from michigan on 10/14/08 at 12:15 PM ET