Not Pens news, but shocking enough news to report anyway... Very sad

New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov died during a game in his native Russia on Monday night. He was 19.

The Rangers did not reveal the circumstances of Cherepanov’s death when contacted by PA SportsTicker.

The New York Post reported that Cherepanov suffered a heart attack and collapsed on the bench during Avangard Omsk’s game against Vityav Chekhov.

TSN of Canada reported that medical officials attempted to get Cherepanov’s heart beating again. According to the web site, there was no ambulance present at the arena. The report stated that it took between “15 and 20 minutes” to transport Cherepanov from the arena to the hospital.

Rangers general manager Glen Sather addressed the tragedy in a statement released by the team.

“We are extremely saddened by the tragic passing of Alexei,” Sather said. “On behalf of the New York Rangers organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Alexei was an intelligent, energetic young man with tremendous talent and an extremely bright future.”

I remember reading reports that some scouts felt this kid was the most talented player in the draft, but teams weren't sure whether they could sign him. Sad news.

Honestly, I think the score flattered the Eagles a bit... we probably weren't 2 TDs better than the Niners today. I have to give that San Fran team and their young QB a lot of credit. For a little over 3 quarters they did a great job... This was a gutty win from the Eagles on a day that felt like we were going to watch another Eagles second half collapse.

Not this time though.

Onto headlines

A game of runs

With :41 left in the first half the Cardinals kicked a FG that was the first of 20 unanswered points into the 4th quarter. With a little over 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Eagles ripped off 23 straight points to win it. Until today the Eagles hadn't scored a second half TD in 2 games.

Big game for Buck

No Brian Westbrook, no problem.

What a huge game from Correll Buckhalter today! He was three yards shy of a 100 on the ground, where he averaged over 5 yards a carry and scored a TD. He also caught 7 passes for 89 yards. The man with bionic knees finished the day with 186 total yards and a TD. It was a Westbrook like performance and one the Eagles really needed today. The Eagles run game looked better today than it has all year. We'll have to cehck the tape but did Klecko at FB really make that much of a difference? I would say Buck is the unquestioned player of the game if not for...

The sack artist formerly known as Thomas

New name for Juqua Parker and a new level of lay as well. Juqua got his team leading 4.5th sack, he had a huge tackle for a loss in the quarter where he read a TE screen perfectly, and of course he had the big INT return for a TD that iced the game. Really the whole defensive line really started to beat the Niners in the 4th quarter, but no one played bigger than Juqua.

The rest of the boys up front were pretty productive as well. Trent Cole had the big strip, Darren Howard had a sack, and Chris Clemons had a nice day with several pressures and a fumble recovery.

Record setting day for #5

Besides just having a pretty damn good game, Donovan McNabb pass Ron Jaworski to become the franchise leader in both pass attempts and yardage.

McNabb finished the day 23/36 for 279 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT(that was clearly in part on LJ Smith). Real nice day out of McNabb.

And hey, the fade pass! McNabb to Baskett for 6. I thought McNabb couldn't throw the fade...?

NFC East just got a lot more interesting

With Dallas and Washington losing both in big upsets today, the NFC East race looks a lot more interesting now than it did yesterday. The Giants are still rolling along undefeated, but in 2 weeks their schedule will get much tougher than it has been. However, Dallas and Washington have both dropped to 4-2 and the Eagles, even at 3-3 are just a game back of them. Considering that we still have to play both teams again, they're absolutely within striking distance. Plus, after hearing so much this year about the vaunted NFC East... Two NFC West teams got wins against the East today and another gave the Eagles everything they could handle. The NFC South looks pretty damn good as well.

Overall it was an incredible day in the NFL with 5 games decided in the last seconds. Days like this remind us of why we do this every Sunday.

Eagles up at the half 17 - 16

Location: Candlestick Park - San Francisco, PA

Time: 4:15 ET

TV: FOX

Radio: 94WYSP, 610 WIP, Sirius 123

For a 49er perspective check out Niners Nation.

Gut check time for the Eagles as they travel to the west coast to take on the 2-3 49ers in what can only be termed a "must win." A win today would put the birds back at .500 heading into the bye with a string of winnable games on the horizon. A loss would pretty much bury them.

Did you know?

With 12 pass attempts & 264 yards Donovan McNabb will become the all time franchise leader in both categories.

Despite practicing all week, WR Kevin Curtis is a no go this week as he is listed as inactive for today's game. With Reggie Brown also inactive today, that leaves Desean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Jason Avant, & Greg Lewis as the teams' WR corps. I'm also expecting Lorenzo Booker to see some snaps there as well.

Joe Mays will be active for the first time this year.

The 49ers inactives are...

cornerback Reggie Smith, cornerback Shawntae Spencer, linebacker Roderick Green, linebacker Ahmad Brooks, center Cody Wallace, offensive tackle Jonas Jennings, linebacker Manny Lawson and third quarterback Jamie Martin.