A Few Facts and Questions about Alexei Cherepanov

- First of all, there was no collision with Jagr. Cherepanov collapsed while sitting on the bench with Jagr after the two had completed a shift.

- It's unclear whether he died in the arena or at the hospital. Cherepanov's agent Jay Grossman (who also happens to be Ilya Kovalchuk's agent) says that he was told doctors could detect brain activity shortly after the player arrived in hospital. But at this point the exact time of his death is unclear, a case of hearsay.

- It's now more or less certain that Cherepanov died of cardiac arrest. No one is sure what triggered it.

- That thing you heard about the ambulance not being on hand? It's true.

- There was also no stretcher, if cameras can be believed. Or more accurately, if people who've watched the video can be believed. Yes, Cherepanov's last moments were, of course, caught on video. I can't watch it, and I won't post it here because I refuse to traffic in snuff films (yes, that sounds pompous and self-righteous, but so be it), but if you insist on seeing it there's no shortage of hockey blogs that have posted it.

UPDATE: NHL.com reports this:

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.

The incident caught the attention of a high-level government meeting, chaired by President Dmitry Medvedev, to discuss how to revitalize Russia's deep sporting traditions.

"A person should not be allowed to take part in competition if he has ischemic heart disease," sports minister Vitaly Mutko said. "This means that in fact there is no preliminary health control and monitoring. And this system should be very well-defined."

Crazy.