PlayerRespawnEvent acting weird

Code:java

    @EventHandler
    public void onPlayerDeath(PlayerDeathEvent event) {
        Bukkit.broadcastMessage("Online: " + Bukkit.getServer().getOnlinePlayers().length);

This prints the number of online players.

Code:java

@EventHandler
    public void onPlayerRespawn(PlayerRespawnEvent event) {
        Bukkit.broadcastMessage("Online: " + Bukkit.getServer().getOnlinePlayers().length);

This prints 0.

Why, and how do I get around it?

For the record, I need Bukkit.getPlayer(String name) and not the players online. Number of players online was just a test.

EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.