9 сентября 1999 года.
Tertyshny memory stirs players

by Les Bowen Daily News Sports Writer 
PETERBOROUGH, Ontario - The memorial service in South Jersey, held just a few hours before the Flyers chartered to Canada for the first week of training camp, was supposed to provide closure for Dmitri Tertyshny's teammates, Flyers general manager Bob Clarke told them that day. 

But yesterday, as camp began with fitness testing along rural, two-lane roads near head coach Roger Neilson's lakefront home, Tertyshny still seemed to be on a lot of minds. 

Neilson, asked what he wanted to see from a week of drills in Peterborough, said what he wanted most was for some unheralded prospect to surprise him. And then Neilson's voice dropped a little bit, as he added: "Like Tertyshny did last year." 

Several teammates recalled the funniest story from last year's fitness testing, now rendered poign-ant. Rookie defenseman Tertyshny, at that point totally uncomprehending of English, followed a group of players onto a bus and to the running course, then chugged through 6 miles, without complaint. When he finished, trainers noticed that his feet were blistered and bloody. He had worn no socks. It turned out that Tertyshny had left the team hotel with no idea he was going running - he just figured he should follow his new teammates, do what they did. 

Tertyshny, who died at age 22 on July 23 in a boating accident at the end of a powerskating camp he was attending in Kelowna, British Columbia, was the kind of guy training camps are made for - young, rawboned, eager to improve. Already a strong skater, he went to Kelowna this summer to try to get a little smoother. 

Veteran winger Valeri Zelepukin, the only other Russian on last season's team, said he would remember his roommate's dedication, and so much else. 

"The first thing I noticed about him was how hard he worked. In this game, the people who work hard are the good people," said Zelepukin, who represented the Flyers at Tertyshny's Aug. 5 funeral in the factory town of Chelyabinsk. "I remember many things. He is with me forever." 

Tertyshny was a big story here a year ago, a skinny, sixth-round, 1995 draft pick who showed poise and polish. 

After nearly every standout scrimmage by Tertyshny, either Clarke or Neilson would remind reporters that he was still ticketed for the Phantoms. He never got there, though; when he continued to play well in exhibitions, Tertyshny won a spot with the Flyers. 

"He impressed the coaches from the first day," Neilson said yesterday. "Respectful, hard working. He was a great guy." 

Sometimes Tertyshny comes to Zelepukin's mind when he doesn't expect it, like Tuesday afternoon, just before the memorial service in Voorhees, when Zelepukin stopped into a South Jersey pizzeria. 

Distracted, thinking of other things, he ordered a chicken cutlet sandwich. When it arrived, the smell hit Zelepukin's nostrils and suddenly, there was Dmitri - he recalled that this was what Dmitri always ordered. 

In July, Zelepukin had been in another restaurant in his hometown of Voskresensk, Russia, celebrating his wife's birthday, when Chicago Blackhawks forward Alexei Zhamnov had asked him if he'd heard that "Tertyshny died." 

Zelepukin knew of several hockey-playing Tertyshnys, some of them cousins of Dmitri. "I asked, 'Which Tertyshny?' He said, 'The Philadelphia Flyers' Tertyshny,' " Zelepukin recalled. "I could not believe it." 

Zelepukin stayed in touch with Tertyshny's wife, Polina, and the rest of the family during the dreary, 12-day wait for Tertyshny's body to make its way from Kelowna to Chelyabinsk. 

Polina, four months pregnant, was hospitalized briefly; there was concern that she would lose the baby. 

Zelepukin made the 2-hour flight from Moscow to Dmitri's funeral, which was held in the arena of the Traktor Chelyabinsk team he had played for before coming to the NHL. More than 1,000 mourners gathered there, Zelepukin said. 

"It is a hockey city," he said. "Lot of other [Russian] clubs sent flowers." 

Russian media, Zelepukin said, made much of the fact that alcohol had been consumed on the rented boat, although a police investigation showed that Phantoms winger Francis Belanger, piloting the craft, was not intoxicated. 

The boat hit a wake and Tertyshny, sitting in the front, was thrown overboard, then run over by the propellor. Drinking apparently was not a factor in the accident. 

"I know Dmitri very well. He's not a drinking guy," Zelepukin said. "Maybe two beers, at most." 

The Flyers sent Philadelphia newspaper stories on the accident to the Tertyshny family, hoping they could get them translated and gain a more accurate understanding of Dmitri's death. Zelepukin said the family appreciated the efforts of Flyers fans, and asked him to bring a message back with him. 

"His parents asked me to tell what they feel," Zelepukin said. 

"They wanted to say, 'Thank you.' They said that when Dmitri returned home [after the season ended in May], he was the happiest man in the world. He was talking to his parents about how it was the best team he had ever played on, and the best time he ever had." 

Polina Tertyshny hopes to attend the Sept. 21 Flyers vs. Phantoms exhibition game being played to raise money for the education of her unborn son. 

Phantoms chief operating officer Frank Miceli said about 11,000 tickets have been sold for the game, to be played at the First Union Spectrum.