Lokomotiv team plane crashed in Russia

A plane crashed in Russia, killing most of the Lokomotiv KHL team, including former NHL players Pavol Demitra, Karlis Skrastins, Josef Vasicek and Karel Rachunek. Ruslan Salei (who is Belarussian) is a member of the team but had travelled to Minsk earlier by himself. [ Edit: There are conflicting reports and some say that Salei was on the plane. ] [ Edit 2: Salei was on the plane. ]

CANADIAN COACH MCCRIMMON AMONG 43 DEAD IN RUSSIAN PLANE CRASH

I found out on Twitter and my immediate reaction was disbelief. Was it somehow April 1st or something? But then I saw some of those names and I just started crying, even though I wasn't a big fan of those players or anything. (I only saw Rachunek's name later, and that hit home a lot more.) I don't even know how I feel. I'm just crying again.

Alex was just talking last week about how the planes in Russia are really horribly maintained because a lot of skilled people left the country and they just don't have enough qualified people to take care of things.

This is horrible. And they were meant to play in the KHL season opener...

17 comments — :

( 17 comments — Leave a comment )

tyches_echo

2011-09-07 07:12 pm (UTC)

I'm just in shock. I really have no words. :(

harleymae

2011-09-07 07:14 pm (UTC)

Yeah. It's just so awful. :(

(Deleted comment)

2011-09-08 01:10 am (UTC)

All those guys, all those families affected...

ruskaja

2011-09-07 10:14 pm (UTC)

It was one of my faves...

The team?

fromcainwthlove

2011-09-08 12:21 am (UTC)

i thought the same thing about april 1... and i read it in lindsey's journal first. isn't that awful? it just seems like one tragedy after another.

horribly, i had the fleeting thought 'thank god it wasn't nabby.' :(

2011-09-08 01:08 am (UTC)

Yeah, and Gaborik has lost two of his best friends (Boogaard and Demitra) in one summer. :(

They did talk to Nabby about it. He was having his first breakfast in Long Island and he "knew 80% of the team".
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=587845

"To be honest with you, I was never a really scared traveler," Nabokov said. "But since I had kids, I'm definitely more scared now. When you go on a plane, you're out of the control. You're in somebody's hands. There's nothing you can do. You just never want to see anything like that."

lovethosestars

2011-09-08 01:14 am (UTC)

It is just so shocking. All of those lives just gone

2011-09-12 05:42 pm (UTC)

It still feels crazy and unreal and unbelievably sad.

tamiflu

2011-09-08 03:44 am (UTC)

I read about it in Lindsay's journal first and all I could think was OMG, was Zubov on that plane? I couldn't remember what team he played for or if he had retired or not and I just freaked out, scanning the TSN article. They didn't mention any names at first so I felt so relieved...and then they mentioned Ovechkin's tweet and it didn't mean anything until I saw Demitra and Skrastins' names.. and then Salei? The asshole I screamed at? The guy I refused to let sign my program at that playoff game?

God. I felt so relieved for that moment. What is going on, man?

2011-09-12 05:45 pm (UTC)

The only thing I think of when I hear Salei's name is his comment about Petr and Prospal rolling around on the ice together. People left some RIP comments on that YouTube video. I went from thinking he'd died, to reading that he'd travelled to Minsk by himself earlier, then that he was in fact on the plane.

I feel so sad for the families, all those wives and young kids...

frala

2011-09-08 06:07 am (UTC)

it was like being slapped and sitting there in shock so sure it couldnt even be real even as you were reading it, for me anyway. *hugs you*

2011-09-12 05:46 pm (UTC)

Yeah, my immediate reaction was that it was some kind of joke and just being in disbelief for a while. *hugs*

vivelegardien

2011-09-08 12:45 pm (UTC)

Total shock. It's horrible, what a horrible year for the hockey world.

2011-09-12 05:50 pm (UTC)

It still makes me feel like crying.

herwhereabouts

2011-09-09 06:28 pm (UTC)

Ugh, so much sadness over this. I loved Demo when he was a King, have his jersey, and it feels crazy that he's gone.

May this be the final tragedy that the NHL sees this season. It's enough for a decade, dude.

2011-09-12 06:00 pm (UTC)

It's beyond horrible. Trying to imagine if it was an NHL team and I can't.

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Lokomotiv team plane crashed in Russia

harleymae