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Post by LTZ on Sept 7, 2011 8:22:38 GMT -6
Reports that KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's plane crashed Sept 7, 2011 with the majority of the roster killed.
Recent roster included the following familiar names:
Pavol Demeitra
Ruslan Salei
Karlis Skrastins
Not too many details out at this point. This is the Sun article:
A plane carrying the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, whose roster includes former NHL players, crashed on takeoff Wednesday.
Reports out of Russia indicate 36 people are dead and one was critically injured in the charter plane carrying Lokomotiv on the way to its opening game against Minsk. Former Detroit assistant Brad McCrimmon is the head coach.
Former NHL players Pavol Demitra along with Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Ruslan Salei and Josef Vasicek were on the roster. Reports indicated the only survivor was a crew member and the news sent shockwaves through the hockey community.
McCrimmon left his position as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings this summer to take over the top job.
"I just don't know what to say right now," said Rachunek's agent Todd Diamond from Switzerland Wednesday morning. "I don't really know what happened. I've just been told that the accident happened in Yaroslavl.
"I don't really know anything other than what I've heard at this point. They were on their way to the opening game in Minsk. I don't have any words at the moment. There isn't a lot to say. This is just a terrible tragedy." Diamond said he is trying to get more details and wasn't sure who exactly was on the plane. He said former NHLers Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev were working as assistant coaches to McCrimmon but wasn't sure if they were aboard the plane.
The plane that crashed was a YAK-42.
New Jersey-based agent Mark Gandler said he wanted to wait to see who was on the plane before making any further comments.
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Post by selanne405 on Sept 7, 2011 8:49:39 GMT -6
tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375297MOSCOW -- A Russian jet carrying a top hockey team crashed Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing 43 people officials said. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River, 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow. It said two people survived the crash with grave injuries. The ministry said the plane was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew. All but two were killed in the crash. The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team from Yaroslavl. The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dynamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The CHL is a league of several ex-Soviet countries. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash, 15 kilometres east of Yaroslavl. Former NHLers on the team roster include Pavol Demitra and Ruslan Salei, and the coach is Canadian Brad McCrimmon. But it was not immediately known whether they were on board the plane. Former Montreal Canadien Brent Sopel, who is now playing in Russia, tweeted shortly after the crash: "In shock. Prayers out to all of the KHL families." McCrimmon, 52, is a native of Saskatchewan. He played defence for six NHL teams -- Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix from 1979-80 to 1996-97. He played 1,222 regular season games in the NHL, collecting 81 goals, 322 assists and 1,416 penalty minutes. McCrimmon was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings. He also served as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades. The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines. In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error. President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. -- With files from The Canadian Press. R.I.P 
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Post by JETStender on Sept 7, 2011 8:51:12 GMT -6
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Post by LTZ on Sept 7, 2011 8:54:13 GMT -6
Unreal. RIP.
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Post by JETStender on Sept 7, 2011 8:56:54 GMT -6
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Bigg22
4th Line Grinder
Posts: 123
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Post by Bigg22 on Sept 7, 2011 9:18:17 GMT -6
There are reports now that one player also survived the crash, but as of right now may have burns to 80% of his body. Hope that he can pull through. What a tragic event.
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Post by Lions67 on Sept 7, 2011 9:23:59 GMT -6
very tragic. RIP.
when was the last time an entire team was lost due to a plane crash?.....Manchester United?.... i cant remember.
just awful news.
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Post by TheDeuce on Sept 7, 2011 9:36:43 GMT -6
I feel like someone punched me in the gut. Did the powers that be declare war on hockey? It's like someone decided that the feel-good story of the Jets' return had to be balanced out.
Thoughts and prayers - and may this be the last time I have to offer them up for deceased hockey players.
m.
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Post by TheDeuce on Sept 7, 2011 9:38:39 GMT -6
very tragic. RIP. when was the last time an entire team was lost due to a plane crash?.....Manchester United?.... i cant remember. just awful news. Here's a summary of athletes who died in plane crashes - both team-wide and individuals. I forgot about Payne Stewart.... sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2622075m. |
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Post by sting on Sept 7, 2011 9:52:02 GMT -6
Many ex-NHL players died today when a plane crashed.
Not sure if he was on the plane but the Coaching staff
included former Winnipeg Jet Igor Korolev
TUNOSHNA, Russia -- A Russian jet carrying a top hockey team crashed into a river bank Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 crashed in sunny weather immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River, 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow.
It said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dynamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The ministry said it was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and two people survived the crash.
It wasn't immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42. Officials said player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crewmember.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent his transport minister to the site, 15 kilometres east of Yaroslavl.
The plane that crashed was relatively new, built in 1993, and belonged to a small Yak Service company.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a leading force in Russian hockey and came third in the KHL last year. The team's coach is Canadian Brad McCrimmon, who took over in May. A native of Saskatchewan, the 52-year-old was most recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, and played 18 years in the NHL for Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix.
The Russian team also featured several top European players and former NHL stars, including Slovakian forward and national team captain Pavol Demitra, who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.
Other top names include forward Josef Vasicek of the Czech Republic, Czech defenceman Karel Rachunek, Russian defencemen Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins, and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.
The KHL is an international club league that pits together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia. Lokomotiv was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002-2003. It took bronze last season.
Swarms of police and rescue crews rushed to Tunoshna, a picturesque village with a blue-domed church on the banks of the Volga River.
One resident, Irina Pryakhova, saw the plane going down.
"It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong," she said. "It went down behind the trees and there was a bang and a plume of smoke."
She said rescuers pulled victims' bodies out of the Volga River. "I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seatbelts on," Pryakhova said.
Former Montreal Canadien Brent Sopel, who is now playing in Russia, tweeted shortly after the crash: "In shock. Prayers out to all of the KHL families."
A cup match between hockey teams Salavat Yulaev and Atlant in the central Russian city of Ufa was called off midway after news of the crash was announced by KHL head Alexander Medvedev.
Russian television broadcast images of an empty arena in Ufa as grief-stricken fans abandoned the stadium.
"We will do our best to ensure that hockey in Yaroslavl does not die, and that it continues to live for the people that were on that plane," said Russian Ice Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretyak.
The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines.
In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.
President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year.
-- With files from The Canadian Press.
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Post by scubasteve1319 on Sept 7, 2011 9:59:13 GMT -6
Heard about this a few hours ago. Such a sad year for the hockey world.
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Post by hobble on Sept 7, 2011 10:02:51 GMT -6
Wow, an entire team?!? That's horrible!
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Post by domi on Sept 7, 2011 10:14:46 GMT -6
Any word on whether or not Demitra was on the plane?
I'm hearing reports that some players survived, but it might just be that they were not on the plane???
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Bigg22
4th Line Grinder
Posts: 123
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Post by Bigg22 on Sept 7, 2011 10:20:06 GMT -6
Yes Demitra's agent confirmed he has died
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Post by JETStender on Sept 7, 2011 10:22:23 GMT -6
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