Kaizer
Registered User
I post here at HFBoards since 2003 and I don't remember a single prospect which was covered with about the same amount of myths, rumors and cliches ... Different boards, different posters but the same cliches, cliches, cliches ... so I decided to combine all my knowledge about Cherepanov in one post. I've seen him a lot in RSL, all games at U20 and 4 (may be 3 or 5 
) games at U18... I've read good number of articles about him in russian press and shared my thoughts about him with few guys from russian media too.. All random thoughs I had I combined here ... I tried to be unbiased but in the end you have to remember it's still an opinion of single poster...
> Is Cherepanov a Colorado Avalanche fan ? Yes, he is big fan of Colorado and he did mention this in few interviews.
> Who is his favorite player ? Joe Sakic, but the reason is unknown for me. He also said once he preferes Sakic's style of play to Forsberg's as more rational, If I recall correctly.
> Does Cherepanov have troubles with coaches ? I haven't heard about this. He played under Valeri Belousov (old-school and one of the most successeful coaches in RSL) in Avangard and was awarded by good number of minutes, he played under Popikhin at U20 and was leader of the team, he played at U18 under Fahrutdinov and was leader of the team. At U18 in final game he was used in 2 different lines after one of the russian players (Kugryshev, if I recall correctly) was injured.
3 different coaches at 3 different levels used him as leader or one of the leaders. Belousov in Omsk is old-school coach from soviet era and probably is the toughest coach with players in RSL and he used Cherepanov as one of the leaders already. This costs a lot. I even can add that Belousov called to Cherepanov in Finland and gave few advises according to interview with Cherepanov after U18. Popikhin at U20 was an adept of team play without any leader and even there Cherepanov did stand out among others.
> Did Cherepanov have a confilict with his teammate(s) at U18 ? Yes, he had a conflict at preliminary stage.
> What did happen after this ? . Nothing, Team Russia won U18, Cherepanov was amazing in play offs where he was the most dominant forward and only JVR was close.
> Does Cherepanov has a big ego ? Is he selfish ? I haven't heard about this. I know his teammates from Omsk called him and wished good luck to him when he was in Finland at U18.
> Is Cherepanov slow skater ? Yes, he is.
> Does Cherepanov have a bad balance? Is he bad skater ? No, he looks strong on skates. He still isn't strong enough to use all his tools at professional level but at U20 and especially at U18 it looked next to impossible for opponent to get a puck from him. Think about Stastny here - slow skater but he covers puck very good with his strong body.
> Is Cherepanov small ? Does he look weak ? No, he looked about 1-2 inches higher than Shuttenkirk when they skated together after final game and he also has a bigger frame.
> What about Cherepanov's backcheking ? I'd say he is a bit lazy here and doesn't look like a big fan of backcheking but I also remember that than more important game is (play offs at U18 or in RSL) than more shots he blocked and backchecked more often.
> Did Cherepanov had a awful 5 nations tournament ? Yes, he did. The reason in unkown for me.
> Why did this tournament affect his position in rankings so much ? It's the mystery for me. Look at Voracek for example, he had good play offs in QMJHL - good for him. But he looked awful at 2 biggest international tournaments also (U18 and U20) and he is still Top-5 material without a single doubt. Imo, such performance by Voracek asks a lot more quesions about his communication with teammates and coaches than Cherepanov's performance at 5 nations tournament.
> Did Cherepanov played below his level at RSL play offs against Lokomotiv and Metallurg? Yes, he did. It was his first play offs and he played with bruised hip some time after cheap shot by Reid Simpson at previous stage. The most interesting fact that in his first play offs Cherepanov got more points in 10 games than Ovechkin in 18 games in RSL play offs.
> Is Cherepanov inconisistent ? The biggest myth I've heard about him. After slow start in RSL he was close to 0.7-0.8 PPG and he wasn't even draft eligible.. At U20 he was held pointless only in final game as far as I remember and I can't say he had all his points against weak team like I've heard before here. He was also over PPG player at WJC. He was 0.8 PPG player in RSL play offs after this and he was PPG player at U18 but this time he has got lion part of his points in play offs.
> How to describe his play ? The hardest question You can think of mix between Paul Stastny and Cheechoo, in my opinion. From Paul Stastny he had a good positional play in the offensive zone and around the net, excellent hockey sence, ability to deliever nifty passes to linemates and create space for them, slow skating, being calm under pressure, desire to go to corners and to the net. From Cheechoo he had this ability to score goals and make them look like garbage goals. He also will be less dependent from his center, Imo. From Cherepanov he has stickhandling, ability to make difficult things look simple.
PS. Sorry for mistakes in some cases. I only hope you understood me in the end. And remember it's only my opinion which I tried to support with some facts and tried to show as unbiased.
) games at U18... I've read good number of articles about him in russian press and shared my thoughts about him with few guys from russian media too.. All random thoughs I had I combined here ... I tried to be unbiased but in the end you have to remember it's still an opinion of single poster... > Is Cherepanov a Colorado Avalanche fan ? Yes, he is big fan of Colorado and he did mention this in few interviews.
> Who is his favorite player ? Joe Sakic, but the reason is unknown for me. He also said once he preferes Sakic's style of play to Forsberg's as more rational, If I recall correctly.
> Does Cherepanov have troubles with coaches ? I haven't heard about this. He played under Valeri Belousov (old-school and one of the most successeful coaches in RSL) in Avangard and was awarded by good number of minutes, he played under Popikhin at U20 and was leader of the team, he played at U18 under Fahrutdinov and was leader of the team. At U18 in final game he was used in 2 different lines after one of the russian players (Kugryshev, if I recall correctly) was injured.
3 different coaches at 3 different levels used him as leader or one of the leaders. Belousov in Omsk is old-school coach from soviet era and probably is the toughest coach with players in RSL and he used Cherepanov as one of the leaders already. This costs a lot. I even can add that Belousov called to Cherepanov in Finland and gave few advises according to interview with Cherepanov after U18. Popikhin at U20 was an adept of team play without any leader and even there Cherepanov did stand out among others.
> Did Cherepanov have a confilict with his teammate(s) at U18 ? Yes, he had a conflict at preliminary stage.
> What did happen after this ? . Nothing, Team Russia won U18, Cherepanov was amazing in play offs where he was the most dominant forward and only JVR was close.
> Does Cherepanov has a big ego ? Is he selfish ? I haven't heard about this. I know his teammates from Omsk called him and wished good luck to him when he was in Finland at U18.
> Is Cherepanov slow skater ? Yes, he is.
> Does Cherepanov have a bad balance? Is he bad skater ? No, he looks strong on skates. He still isn't strong enough to use all his tools at professional level but at U20 and especially at U18 it looked next to impossible for opponent to get a puck from him. Think about Stastny here - slow skater but he covers puck very good with his strong body.
> Is Cherepanov small ? Does he look weak ? No, he looked about 1-2 inches higher than Shuttenkirk when they skated together after final game and he also has a bigger frame.
> What about Cherepanov's backcheking ? I'd say he is a bit lazy here and doesn't look like a big fan of backcheking but I also remember that than more important game is (play offs at U18 or in RSL) than more shots he blocked and backchecked more often.
> Did Cherepanov had a awful 5 nations tournament ? Yes, he did. The reason in unkown for me.
> Why did this tournament affect his position in rankings so much ? It's the mystery for me. Look at Voracek for example, he had good play offs in QMJHL - good for him. But he looked awful at 2 biggest international tournaments also (U18 and U20) and he is still Top-5 material without a single doubt. Imo, such performance by Voracek asks a lot more quesions about his communication with teammates and coaches than Cherepanov's performance at 5 nations tournament.
> Did Cherepanov played below his level at RSL play offs against Lokomotiv and Metallurg? Yes, he did. It was his first play offs and he played with bruised hip some time after cheap shot by Reid Simpson at previous stage. The most interesting fact that in his first play offs Cherepanov got more points in 10 games than Ovechkin in 18 games in RSL play offs.
> Is Cherepanov inconisistent ? The biggest myth I've heard about him. After slow start in RSL he was close to 0.7-0.8 PPG and he wasn't even draft eligible.. At U20 he was held pointless only in final game as far as I remember and I can't say he had all his points against weak team like I've heard before here. He was also over PPG player at WJC. He was 0.8 PPG player in RSL play offs after this and he was PPG player at U18 but this time he has got lion part of his points in play offs.
> How to describe his play ? The hardest question
You can think of mix between Paul Stastny and Cheechoo, in my opinion. From Paul Stastny he had a good positional play in the offensive zone and around the net, excellent hockey sence, ability to deliever nifty passes to linemates and create space for them, slow skating, being calm under pressure, desire to go to corners and to the net. From Cheechoo he had this ability to score goals and make them look like garbage goals. He also will be less dependent from his center, Imo. From Cherepanov he has stickhandling, ability to make difficult things look simple.PS. Sorry for mistakes in some cases. I only hope you understood me in the end. And remember it's only my opinion which I tried to support with some facts and tried to show as unbiased.
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