Flyers try to overcome yet another tragedy

Sporting News, The, August 16, 1999 by Larry Wigge

It's a memorable night in the young career of a very promising player: Flyers defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny's first NHL goal. A shot to remember last February in Phoenix, it hit the right goal post, hit the goalie in the backside and trickled oh-so-slowly over the goal line.

"It feels very good," Tertyshny says. "I hope it's not my last goal."

To hear the horrifying news that Tertyshny, 22, died recently in a boating accident near Kelowna, British Columbia, to end his 62-game NHL career sent a numbing feeling up my spine.

So young. Such a devastating loss.

Tertyshny displayed the inconsistency of a rookie but showed glimpses of the brilliance of youth. His passing and playmaking skills were his greatest strengths.

"He came right out of the blue in training camp last year," says coach Roger Neilson, who moved Tertyshny onto the second defensive unit with Dan McGillis by season's end.

"What I liked most about DmiWi was he was always out there at the end of practice trying to get better," says captain Eric Lindros. "He came to play every night, and I'm convinced he would have been an All-Star one day."

Tertyshny was working to make himself better at a two-week power skating camp at Kelowna along with 11 Flyers prospects. His wife, Paulina, who is four months' pregnant, stayed in Russia.

The tragedy occurred when Tertyshny was thrown overboard from a powerboat when it hit a wave. He was hit by the propeller and bled to death. "I thought he'd be with us for a long time," Flyers G.M. Bobby Clarke says. "You never expect that an afternoon in a rental boat will turn into tragedy."

In the past 30 years, the Flyers have dealt with their share of tragedy: Barry Ashbee's battle with leukemia in 1977, the 1985 automobile accident that killed Pelle Lindbergh and now Tertyshny.

It's unfortunate not many got to know Tertyshny, a quiet but dedicated athlete whose success came despite the fact he could not speak or understand much English.

Lindros is right Tertyshny might have become an All-Star. He already had succeeded at a position where players normally need years of apprenticeship to excel.

Now ... all that's left is a giant hole on the Flyers' depth chart

Clarke already had penciled former Notre Dame defenseman Mark Eaton on the roster--ostensibly to replace veteran Luke Richardson. Now, Clarke will have to bring back Richardson or promote another youngster.

On a defense that lacked the consistently solid breakout pass to make the transition game work, Tertyshny's deft passing will be sorely missed. And so will the special smile he always seemed to have on his face.

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