Scout
09-07-2011, 10:03 AM
Ex-NHLers Brad McCrimmon, Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei on downed plane
At least 44 dead in Russian plane crash
The start of Russia's ice hockey league has been delayed in the wake of Wednesday's plane crash which killed at least 44 people including members of the Lokomotiv team travelling to their first match of the season.
The tragedy happened when a Russian jet crashed on takeoff at an airport outside the central Russian city of Yaroslavl.
A police source told Interfax that the stricken plane suddenly started listing to the left and crashed about 500 metres away from the Tunoshna airport.
"According to the latest data, there were 45 people on board — 37 passengers and eight crew. Forty-four people died in the crash and one person survived," the official told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Brad McCrimmon, a native of Dodsland, Saskatchewan, was coaching Lokomotiv this season. After an 18-year NHL career, McCrimmon coached the Saskatoon Blades for two seasons - 1998-99 and 1999-2000 - helping the team improve from 16-49-7 in his first season to 34-27-8 in his second season at the helm. He has since served as an assistant coach in the NHL with Calgary, Atlanta and Detroit.
During his playing days, McCrimmon suited up for Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix.
Initially the Continental Hockey League (KHL) elected to go ahead with the scheduled first match between reigning champions Ufa and last season's runners-up Mytishchi.
But after details of the full extent of the accident were confirmed the match was stopped with five minutes, 16 seconds remaining before the first intermission.
"In such a situation the players of both teams considered the playing after their friends and collegues died to be absolutely impossible," KHL president Alexander Medvedev announced.
The decision about the new start of KHL season will be announced later.
The local capacity 10,000 crowd at Ufa Arena held a minute's silence in the memory of the players who died in the crash.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl were scheduled to start their new KHL season on Thursday with a match at Minsk against local side Dynamo.
The club, which was founded in 1959, won the Russian title in 1997, 2002 and 2003, clinching the league's silver medal in 2008 and 2009.
Yaroslavl also won bronze medals of the Russian league in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2011.
Czech players Josef Vasicek, Jan Marek and Karel Rachunek were on Yaroslavl's roster this season along with Stefan Liv of Sweden and Slovak Pavol Demitra.
Of 27 names on the roster, several previously played for NHL teams while most were NHL prospects.
Demitra, 37, played for the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and several U.S. NHL teams including the Los Angeles Kings.
Robert Dietrich, Jan Marek and Stefan Liv were both NHL prospects and played in the American Hockey League. It would have been Marek's first year with the Russian team.
Karel Ruchunek, was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 1997 and played about half a dozen games with the team that same year.
Vitaly Anikeyenko, 24, who was selected by the Ottawa Senators as the third round pick overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, was also on the Russian team's roster. He played for the Russian team since 2005.
Ruslan Salei, in the NHL since the 1997-98 season, played last year with the Detroit Red Wings. He previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The identity of the lone survivor has not been released.
At least 44 dead in Russian plane crash
The start of Russia's ice hockey league has been delayed in the wake of Wednesday's plane crash which killed at least 44 people including members of the Lokomotiv team travelling to their first match of the season.
The tragedy happened when a Russian jet crashed on takeoff at an airport outside the central Russian city of Yaroslavl.
A police source told Interfax that the stricken plane suddenly started listing to the left and crashed about 500 metres away from the Tunoshna airport.
"According to the latest data, there were 45 people on board — 37 passengers and eight crew. Forty-four people died in the crash and one person survived," the official told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Brad McCrimmon, a native of Dodsland, Saskatchewan, was coaching Lokomotiv this season. After an 18-year NHL career, McCrimmon coached the Saskatoon Blades for two seasons - 1998-99 and 1999-2000 - helping the team improve from 16-49-7 in his first season to 34-27-8 in his second season at the helm. He has since served as an assistant coach in the NHL with Calgary, Atlanta and Detroit.
During his playing days, McCrimmon suited up for Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix.
Initially the Continental Hockey League (KHL) elected to go ahead with the scheduled first match between reigning champions Ufa and last season's runners-up Mytishchi.
But after details of the full extent of the accident were confirmed the match was stopped with five minutes, 16 seconds remaining before the first intermission.
"In such a situation the players of both teams considered the playing after their friends and collegues died to be absolutely impossible," KHL president Alexander Medvedev announced.
The decision about the new start of KHL season will be announced later.
The local capacity 10,000 crowd at Ufa Arena held a minute's silence in the memory of the players who died in the crash.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl were scheduled to start their new KHL season on Thursday with a match at Minsk against local side Dynamo.
The club, which was founded in 1959, won the Russian title in 1997, 2002 and 2003, clinching the league's silver medal in 2008 and 2009.
Yaroslavl also won bronze medals of the Russian league in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2011.
Czech players Josef Vasicek, Jan Marek and Karel Rachunek were on Yaroslavl's roster this season along with Stefan Liv of Sweden and Slovak Pavol Demitra.
Of 27 names on the roster, several previously played for NHL teams while most were NHL prospects.
Demitra, 37, played for the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and several U.S. NHL teams including the Los Angeles Kings.
Robert Dietrich, Jan Marek and Stefan Liv were both NHL prospects and played in the American Hockey League. It would have been Marek's first year with the Russian team.
Karel Ruchunek, was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 1997 and played about half a dozen games with the team that same year.
Vitaly Anikeyenko, 24, who was selected by the Ottawa Senators as the third round pick overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, was also on the Russian team's roster. He played for the Russian team since 2005.
Ruslan Salei, in the NHL since the 1997-98 season, played last year with the Detroit Red Wings. He previously played for the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The identity of the lone survivor has not been released.