Autopsy: Flyer Bled To Death

Philadelphia Flyers' defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny bled to death after falling off a boat and being cut by the propeller, according to autopsy results released Monday.

Tertyshny fell from the boat in Okanagan Lake on Friday night and was run over by the propeller, police said.

The coroner said the propeller cut the player's throat, severing veins and arteries.

Tertyshny, 22, was in the boat with Francis Belanger and Mikhail Chernov, who play for the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate.

Police said a local woman was also in the boat.

Tertyshny was not wearing life jacket, according to police.

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

The players were in Kelowna for a power-skating clinic.

Tertyshny had two goals and eight assists in 62 games in 1998-99, his rookie season. He was drafted by the Flyers in the sixth round in 1995, but continued to play in his home town of Chelyabinsk, Russia, until joining the team last season.

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