Russian air disaster kills former Panthers Salei, Skrastins, Karpovtsev; KHL club perishes in unprecedented event

I cannot believe I had to type any of that.

UPDATE: Puck Daddy’s Dmitry Chesnokov reports that “Lokomotiv official tells Sovetsky Sport ‘everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.’ Lokomotiv official said the entire team was on the plane because they were traveling for the 1st game of the season, a celebration.”

- Puck Daddy

This is just awful.

Worst. Offseason. Ever.

Fox News reporting 44 confirmed dead

From SovSport here

Sovsport is reporting separately that a crew member survived and one player, Alexander Galimov. Another report said some kids near the crash scene saw 3 survivors. Probably still too early to really have any idea what’s going on.

Salei as it seems wasn’t on plane. He was waiting team in Minsk.

Where do fans of Lokomotiv go from here? Can they possibly ever go back to enjoying their team play? This is horrific.

didn’t see Donny had written a post to the main board. God bless the family and friends of those who died and RIP to the players.

In my fan post I recalled a little bit of aviation disaster history involving sports teams. Here it is-

Feel free to correct me, but I don’t know of a incident like this involving a pro or college hockey team. There have been aviation incidents where most or all of a sports team were wiped out. In most cases in the Americas or involving Americans, the teams were amatuers(The U.S. Figure Skating team aka Sabena Flight 548 disaster in 1961 or college teams like Marshall, University of Evansville, Wichita State) to name a few, involved college athletes.

Overseas is another story. In 1958 members of the Manchester United football were killed in a crash in Germany, the famous ‘Alive’ story involved uruguayan rugby team players. A Zambian soccer team was wiped out in a crash about 10 years ago. I recall a crash involving Italian athletes about 40-50 years ago but I forget the details. There have been other crashes.

Pro sports teams have to travel and with plane travel there is a risk

I’ll also add that plane travel in the old Soviet Union or present day Russia entails a good deal of risk.

Follow Chesnokov on Twitter for latest updates

@SlavaMalamud
Slava Malamud
It is official now. Belarusian news agencies report that Ruslan Salei was on board the flight.

The agent for Alexander Galimov, a member of the Russian national team, told SovSport that the 26-year-old player survived the crash. Galimov has played with Lokomotiv since 2004, predating the KHL’s inaugural season in 2008. He was never drafted by and NHL team and has only played in Russia.

-PD update

According to Sovsport, survivors are Galimov (severe burns-80 percent of his body) and flight engineer Alexander Sizov (15 percent burns). And possibly, but unconfirmed flight commander Andrey Solomentsev.

Confirmed dead:

@mirtle
James Mirtle
Pavol Demitra’s agent confirms that the former NHLer has been killed in the crash in Russia. More to come at globesports.com

With each incident this offseason and the loss of player after player it somehow has started to take a toll on me. Don’t know if any of you seem to feel it but it’s wearing me down, too sad of news to even comprehend right now..

Game used stick and jersey along with autographed puck from Salei hanging in my room, and I sit here hoping that the initial reports were true and he wasn’t on board.

Not for the meek.

@OnFrozenPond
George Richards
#FlaPanthers D Dmitry Kulikov played for Lokimotiv: ’it’s just an empty feeling. Words can’t express how I feel.’

Conflicting reports on Salei, but:

dchesnokov: Russian officials to SovSport: “Ruslai Salei was on board the plane.”

Conflicting reports continue to swirl about Salei

Unreal. What do you say?

This offseason has really de-mistyfied the sport for me. It’s no longer about watching my heroes take the ice and fight and bruise and bleed for the fans. They’re no more human and fragile than you or I.

Hopefully we can remember and honor those who have passed and move on to enjoying the sport innocently again.

#Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun was too distraught to talk. Spokesman said his best friend was on board, needs a few days before talking.

OK, I really need to do some work. Someone wake me if there’s anything new or if the Pens actually hold that Crosby press conference.

"We are only beginning to understand the impact of this tragedy affecting the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club and the international hockey community. First and foremost, our condolences go out to the families and friends of the players, coaches and staff lost in today’s tragedy.
 
"We know that there are many in the KHL family who will be grieving with us. As the investigation of this tragedy progresses we will work closely with investigators, government officials, club executives and the Yaroslavl community. We are working to find an appropriate way to honor this club and begin the healing process from the deep loss so many of us feel today.
 
"We are aware that many of you have questions. This tragedy remains our primary focus. We ask for patience as we find an appropriate way to proceed with the 2011/2012 season. We will continue to communicate our plans as they take shape."

Edmonton Journal:

UPDATE from Peter Adler: Herewith the list of those who were aboard the Yak-42 plane that crashed Wednesday, killing the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team of the KHL …

“The entire team”.

I can hardly function right now. I’d always loved Salei and Skrastins. This one hits home the hardest.

Try looking at this photo and not getting weirded out in the worst way. They’re likely all gone.

Skrastins death confirmed by Buccigross

Wow.

If this offseason has taught me one thing, its that we’re a lot more connected to hockey than we previously thought. Every fan of the game has been hurt by this summer.

rinkside rinkside
Just got off the phone with Belorussian Embassy; they have no confirmation on whether Salei is safe or perished.

There is no way the league can let crosby divert attention from this tragedy. That would be completely amateur of PIT and the NHL

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today issued the following statement about the plane crash in Russia, which took the lives of former Hurricanes player Josef Vasicek and former Hartford Whaler Brad McCrimmon, among other members of Lokomotiv of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

"We are deeply saddened to learn of today’s tragedy in Russia," said Rutherford. "Josef was an key part of the Hurricanes for six years, helping us achieve some of our greatest successes. More importantly, he was a great teammate on and off the ice, and was respected as a person as well as a player.

"Brad McCrimmon was a member of our team while we were still in Hartford, and was well-liked by all who came in contact with him. His presence in the hockey community will be greatly missed.

"Our thoughts and prayers go to the Vasicek and McCrimmon families, and the loved ones of all of today’s victims."

Still awaiting word on Salei

SlavaMalamud Slava Malamud
Emergency Ministry says Ruslan Salei is dead (via Championat.com)

 I am totally floored, I wasn’t yet living here when Ruslan Salei played with the Panthers, but I do remember Karlis Skrastins vividly, he was always there to save the moment, he must have been the leader in blocked shots or something. And such a nice, quiet personality. I cannot believe that he is no more. May he and his mates rest in peace. And may we always be grateful to have another day of life when we get up every morning.

 This is absolutely horrific, Skrastins, even though he only played here for a short while, was perhaps my favorite Panther that year, went out and played big minutes and sacrificed his body every shift he took. Whats absolutely insane is that last night i watched We Are Marshall, and then this morning when i work up i wondered if that sort of thing had ever happened to a hockey team before. Apparently i should not watch a sports related movie ever again.

NHL.com just removed pretty much everything from the homepage regarding crosby. At least they have some decency.

dchesnokov Dmitry Chesnokov
The updated list of the dead in the crash now includes Ruslan Salei.

Going to go crawl in a hole tonight.

Christ. This is just flabbergasting. Can the sport take anymore tragedies this year? My god.

Turns out besides my hockey tie to all of this, I have an official tie to the deaths/the crash… A good friend of mine just told me her good friend’s dad (Alexander Karpovtsev) died in the crash….

I totally shaken by all of this.