Once the Washington Capitals completed a thrilling series comeback win over the New York Rangers from down three games to one, the heads of the league watched the final period of the Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils Game 7 anxiously, hoping Carolina could rally to force a marquee ‘best case scenario‘ matchup in the second round – Sidney “The Next One” Crosby vs. Alex “The Great” Ovechkin.

On a day when the 4-0-0 New York Rangers should have been excitedly preparing for their cross-river rival New Jersey Devils, they were instead mourning the loss of one of the brightest lights in the future of their historic franchise. Monday night in Russia, the hockey world lost one of its top talents when Ranger prospect Alexei Cherepanov suffered an appar… Click to read more