New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov, the 17th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and most recently RW for Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, died Monday night after collapsing on the bench during a game against Chekhov Vityaz.  From TSN.ca :

Omsk head coach, Wayne Fleming, said Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during the third period of the game and did not see anything that happened on the ice that may have contributed to it.

Fleming also said medical authorities tried to get Cherepanov’s heart beating again after it had stopped.

Sources in Russia tell TSN that the ambulance that is normally at all games had already departed and had to be called back.

It is not clear exactly how long it took for Cherepanov to be transported from the rink to the hospital but one source in the arena told TSN it was “probably 15 or 20 minutes.”

Also, there is some question as to whether defibrillators at the arena were in good working order.

(UPDATE : Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski quotes a Russian source as reporting Cherepanov had collided with teammate Jaromir Jagr prior to the incident on the Omsk bench).