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| Mourning fans outside of Lokomotiv's stadium |
Wednesday morning, a Russian passenger jet carrying all of Lokomotiv's hockey team crashed, as the plane was unable to gain enough altitude before takeoff. The KHL team was set to leave for their season opener from an airport near Yaroslavl, on the Volga River; when the plane failed to climb rapidly enough, hitting an airport antenna. In all, 43 people died; 27 of which were members of Lokomotiv, including their coach Brad McCrimmon. Saskatchewan native, Brad McCrimmon played 18 years in the NHL, winning a Cup with Calgary in 1989. Following his playing career, he then served as an Assistant Coach with the Islanders, Flames, Thrashers and most recently the Red Wings before accepting a Head Coach position, just this year with Lokomotiv.
Lokomotiv was without a doubt one of Russia's best hockey teams, placing third last year in the KHL. Among the deceased were Slovakian national team captain and long time NHLer, Pavol Demitra along with a handful of former NHL players including Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, Jan Marek, Karlis Skrastins and Ruslan Salei.
The 2011 off-season has been a horrible one for the hockey world; as earlier this summer, NHL enforcers Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard and Wade Belak also lost their lives. Following the news of the crash, over 2,000 mourning Lokomotiv supporters gathered outside of their stadium to pay their respects; chanting their team songs in honour of their fallen hockey heros.
