Deathwatch: Dmitri Tertyshny, NHL Philadelphia Flyers defenseman, 22

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://cnnsi.com/hockey/nhl/news/1999/07/24/flyers_accident_ap/

Flyers' Tertyshny dead in accident

Posted: Saturday July 24, 1999 02:25 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny was
killed when he fell out of a boat and was slashed by the propeller while on
a trip to British Columbia.

The 22-year-old Russian was on the boat with two players from the
minor-league Philadelphia Phantoms, Francis Belanger and Mihail Chernov,
when the accident occurred Friday night on Okanagan Lake near Kelowna.

"He was kneeling up on the seats at the very front of the boat," Staff Sgt.
Phillip Boissonneault of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Saturday.
"The boat hit a wave, which caused Dmitri to lose his balance and fall
forward overboard. And then the boat ran over top of him and he was struck
by the propeller."

Tertyshny had two goals and eight assists as a rookie last year in 62 games.
He was drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 1995 NHL entry draft
but he continued to play in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, until
joining the Flyers last season.

The players were in Kelowna for a power skating clinic.

"You worry about Tertyshny's family and you worry about the things you
normally worry about when a young person passes away," Flyers team president
and general manager Bob Clarke said Saturday. He said counseling will be
available for players who were shaken up by the tragedy.

Tertyshny did not die right away, according to Boissonneault.

"He suffered some very severe lacerations to his neck," he said, adding that
Tertyshny, who was not wearing a life preserver, was bleeding severely, and
likely severed his jugular vein, when he was pulled into the boat, and
likely died in the boat.

Boissonneault said a local woman identified as Michelle Monroe, who had met
the players on the beach, was also on the boat. No information was
immediately available about her.

Alcohol was consumed by the boating party, but Belanger, who was operating
the boat, was not legally impaired, Boissonneault said.

"We cannot prove any criminal responsibility by any of the individuals on
board and there are no charges contemplated at this time," Boissonneault
said.

Tertyshny is survived by his wife, Pauline, who still lives in Russia. A
Flyers spokesman said the body will be returned to Russia for burial.


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