Cherepanov was taking PEDs

Stuff's coming out. He was taking performance enhancing drugs for a few months. He was playing with a condition that should have kept him on the sidelines. Omsk doctors have been fired by the KHL, and they want to suspend the team brass as well:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3797614&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=261479

Hmm. I really wonder how reliable this info is. I mean it's quite possible he was taking something, but it seems to me that the league it deflecting blame off themselves somehow.

The league had no rules in place concerning AED's (automatic external defibrillators). They should have. Plain and simple. After Fischer's near death on the Wing's bench they ought to be automatic at every sporting event everywhere. The league is not without blame here imo.

It seems to me that somewhere along the way (Russian league, NHL combine, Rangers assessment [as well as that of other teams that considered drafting him], etc), the use of PED would have come up.

As far as myocarditis goes, this should have also shown up somewhere along the way. The trainer or coach would have been aware of a change in exercise capacity, even if it had developed after the draft.

I call bullocks on this report. It's a CYA attempt.

Acrobat wrote:It seems to me that somewhere along the way (Russian league, NHL combine, Rangers assessment [as well as that of other teams that considered drafting him], etc), the use of PED would have come up.

As far as myocarditis goes, this should have also shown up somewhere along the way. The trainer or coach would have been aware of a change in exercise capacity, even if it had developed after the draft.

I call bullocks on this report. It's a CYA attempt.

Could be. They surely would want to do it, but if he was taking PEDs (and faking an autopsy report, even in Russia, is easier said than done -- plus why would they want to do that?) and taking them only in the last few months (i.e. after the combine) then it is conceivable that the drugs worsened his heart condition.

It's actually not all that hard for autopsies to be "mislabeled", even here.

Look at the issue with the Pediatric Pathologist (Smith, I think). He had misdiagnosed multiple cases, with several being criminal cases, and nobody was the wiser for decades. In the case of Cherapanov, nobody would be listening by that point (if anybody is even digging).

The reason for doing it could be multiple, and multiple persons had reasons for wanting him to do it:

• the club has an interest in making one of their prospects look good, since that would attract other potential stars to their development program
  
• They also would want him to perform well for financial reasons (here as well, it comes down to the almighty $, or ruble, or whatever)
  
• Alexei would have wanted to excel in the eyes of his idol, Jagr, who he was playing alongside of
  
• The trainer would have wanted to have a real star developed under him on his "resume" as it would provide job security (as much as that is possible in pro sports)
  
• the league has an interest in not identifying those using PED, and for ensuring that evidence is hidden, as ultimately, they want to be seen as equal or better than the NHL, and the possibility of a myocarditis gives them an "out"
  

Having said that, the reports suggest that the stimulant used was nikethamide, which is a respiratory stimulant now banned, but previously used to treat tranquilizer overdoses. Toxicity can include arrhythmia, but I couldn't find a reference suggesting myocarditis, although certainly one can presume that it may cause myocarditis as a mechanism of causing arrhythmia.

Given the other options out there, and the ease with which they can be obtained, I find it surprising that he would choose this particular drug to use. This is why I'm not convinced.