Plane crash in Russia involves KHL team
A plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia has claimed the lives of at least 43 people, according to Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry. The majority of victims were members of the Kontinental Hockey League club, Lokomotiv.
Lokomotiv has confirmed that the entire main roster, plus four players from the youth team, was on the plane.
"We have no team anymore," Vladimir N. Malkov, the team spokesman, said in a telephone interview with The New York Times. "All our starting players, and all the service people, they all burned in the crash."
Former NHLers among crash victims
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PAVOL DEMITRA teams: OTT, STL, LAK, MIN, VAN |
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RUSLAN SALEI teams: ANA, FLA, COL, DET |
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Karel Rachunek teams: Ott, NYR, NJD |
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Karlis Skrastins teams: NSH, COL, FLA, DAl |
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Josef Vasicek teams: Car, NSH, NYI |
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Alexander Vasyunov teams: NJD |
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Brad McCrimmon |
teams (as coach) NYI, CGY, ATL, DET teamS (as PLAYER) BOS, PHI, CGY, DET, HFD, PHX |
Coach Brad McCrimmon, forward Pavol Demitra, defenseman Ruslan Salei, forward Josef Vasicek, defenseman Karel Rachunek, forward Jan Marek, forward Alexander Vasyunov, defenseman Karlis Skrastins and goalie Stefan Liv are among the confirmed fatalities.
The deaths McCrimmon, Salei, Vasicek, Rachunek, Skrastins and Liv were confirmed by the Russian Emergency Ministry. Demitra's passing was confirmed by his agent, Matt Keator, while the New Jersey Devils confirmed Vasyunov's death.
The crash, one of the worst in the history of sports, occurred at 4 p.m. Moscow time and the weather was sunny and clear, according to reports.
"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world — including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
Eight crew members are also among the dead, according to reports.
According to Russian aviation officials, two passengers survived the crash, but are in critical condition. One of the survivors is Russian forward Alexander Galimov, who suffered burns across 80 percent of his body.
"Their state of health is very grave. But there is still some hope," said Alexander Degyatryov, chief doctor at Yaroslavl's Solovyov Hospital.
I had post this because some players I watched play for so long have died and I feel they deserve a tribute. I remember watching Pavel Dimitra score so many sweet goals in the past. Two of the players played for my team the AValanche Ruslan Salei. But most of all I remember Karlis Scrastins who played in the longest streak of games by a defensemen and acheived this while playing for the Avalance. This man was no finess player either he battled hard around the net and was the team leader in blocked shots.
I know not many people on here seem interested in sports. But I thought I would give a little honor to the men who entertained me over the years.
