Translated material
The last journey of the “star boy”
Omsk said goodbye to Alexey Cherepanov
Forward of the Avangard hockey club Alexei Cherepanov was buried yesterday at the Northern Cemetery of Omsk. The 19-year-old hockey player died on Monday evening in Chekhov near Moscow from a heart attack a few minutes before the end of the match between the local Vityaz and the Omsk Avangard. Alexey suddenly lost consciousness on the bench, his heart stopped, and the ambulance doctors who arrived on the scene were powerless.Hundreds of city residents, friends, colleagues, coaches and officials came to the Arena-Omsk ice palace to say goodbye to one of the most talented Russian young hockey players, who was rightly called the “star boy”. At the request of Cherepanov’s parents, they buried him in Omsk, and not in his home village of Ozerki, in the Altai Territory. The coffin with Alexei’s body was delivered to Omsk on Tuesday night by the plane on which Omsk hockey players were returning home. And the very next day, from very early morning, friends, relatives and simply fans of the young talent began to come to the house where Alexey lived. They lit candles and left flowers near a full-length portrait of a hockey player installed near the house.
The famous Czech legionnaire from Omsk, Jaromir Jagr, came to say goodbye to his friend with a mourning bandage on his arm in the shape of the Russian flag. He did not hide his tears from those around him. Avangard’s star striker Anton Kuryanov, who played in a trio with Cherepanov for two and a half seasons, also cried without holding back. Another of Cherepanov’s partners, Alexander Popov, also came. Alexey's close friend Mikhail Anisin, who plays for Sibir Novosibirsk, drove his car all night from Novosibirsk in order to be in time for Cherepanov's funeral. Valery Belousov, Sergey Nemchinov, Miskhat Fakhrutdinov - coaches under whose leadership Cherepanov managed to play in clubs and national teams of different ages - sent their condolences.
“The death of the brightest young player in Russian hockey and Omsk Avangard Alexei Cherepanov shook us to the core. Our grief is immeasurable. We express our sincere and deep condolences to our family and friends. We mourn with you,” the governor of the Omsk region said at the funeral, Chairman of the supervisory board of the Avangard hockey club Leonid Polezhaev, who was one of the initiators of the creation of the Avangard children's and youth hockey school, where a promising hockey player was educated.
Alexey Cherepanov was born in Barnaul on January 15, 1989. In his debut season 2006/07, Alexey broke Pavel Bure's record for newcomers in the number of goals scored in the strongest domestic league (18 goals). In that championship, he scored 29 points - more than, for example, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk scored in their debut seasons. Cherepanov became silver (2007) and bronze (2008) medalist at the world youth championships. In 2007, Alexey won the junior world championship. Bronze medalist of the Russian Championship 2007. In total, during his career in various leagues he played 129 matches, scored 49 goals, and made 34 assists.
The management of the Avangard hockey club reported that the entire amount of Cherepanov’s two-year contract will be received by his parents in the coming days. The hockey player's jersey will be placed under the arena's arches, and his number 7 will be permanently retired from circulation by his home team.
Fans of the Omsk Avangard on the team’s website came up with a proposal to rename the Arena-Omsk stadium into the Cherepanov sports complex. Some are in favor of giving his name to one of the streets of Omsk. On the South stand of the capital's Lokomotiv stadium during the World Cup qualifying match between the national teams of Russia and Finland, in memory of Alexei Cherepanov, a banner was hung with the inscription “From the ice to eternity. We mourn...”
Alexey’s memory was also honored by the players of the National Hockey League team “New York Rangers”, where he would have played if he had moved overseas. “We are incredibly saddened by the tragic passing of Alexey,” said Rangers general manager Glen Sutter in a statement issued on behalf of the entire club. “Aleksey was an intelligent, energetic young man with extraordinary talent and an incredibly bright future.”