12/21/24
September 07, 2011
Plane crash kills ‘majority’ of KHL team Lokomotiv: Among the NHL alumni on Lokomotiv's roster as of Aug. 31: Josef Vasicek, Pavol Demitra, Karel Rachunek, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins and Red Wings goalie prospect Stefan Liv.
Former Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brad McCrimmon was listed as their head coach.
It looks like one of the players killed (Robert Dietrich) had played for our local AHL team.
posted by drezdn at 11:05 AM on September 07, 2011
grum. - Manchester United lost much of its team in the late 1950s.
What a terrible thing this is.
.
posted by rumple at 11:18 AM on September 07, 2011
grum - as rumple mentioned: The Munich Air Disaster in 1958.
posted by JJ at 11:23 AM on September 07, 2011
I knew there was a soccer team that suffered something similar, but couldn't remember if it was European or South American.
posted by grum@work at 11:32 AM on September 07, 2011
grum, I saw on Baseball Think Factory some years ago an article from someone who'd gotten the look at MLB's plans. It's pretty much an immediate dispersal draft, where teams get to protect 15 or so players off their 40 man, and a few more each time they lose a player. It's a well thought out procedure, so at least they wouldn't have to improvise in the face of tragedy.
I have doubts that the KHL is so prepared, but we'll see what they do.
Salei had a kid last spring. This is just horrible.
posted by stevis at 12:04 PM on September 07, 2011
To echo the sentiments from a comment I saw on Facebook, "man, f**k this summer..."
posted by MeatSaber at 01:30 PM on September 07, 2011
Man, this really sucks. Not much else to say about it. My heart goes out to their families.
posted by tahoemoj at 02:16 PM on September 07, 2011
"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world -- including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our League," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished."
Jesus...awful, horrible news.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 02:22 PM on September 07, 2011
Even though he didn't score a whole lot, Josef Vasicek was still one of my favorites Canes.
Canes Statement on the Tragedy in Russia
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."
...
posted by NoMich at 02:28 PM on September 07, 2011
Couldn't sleep and read Twitter and first thing I read was this story earlier today.
Absolutely horrible.
And yes, the Munich Air Disaster.
I'm sure there was a South American team that had something similar happen too. (No, I don't mean the events from "Alive".)
posted by Drood at 03:01 PM on September 07, 2011
I remember Brad McCrimmon from his time with the Bruins. What a tragedy this is.
posted by Howard_T at 03:29 PM on September 07, 2011
I'm sure there was a South American team that had something similar happen too. (No, I don't mean the events from "Alive".)
There have been a few South American teams involved in crashes.
.
posted by goddam at 04:19 PM on September 07, 2011
Thanks for that goddam. (If thanks is the right word...)
posted by Drood at 04:32 PM on September 07, 2011
The Superga crash was mentioned during the last Winter Olympics: Torino was the dominant team in Italian football at the time, providing most of the national squad, and the club has never really recovered.
Just awful.
posted by etagloh at 06:21 PM on September 07, 2011
I remember reading about the Superga crash a few months back.
All very sad.
posted by Drood at 10:22 PM on September 07, 2011
Very sad, indeed.
/That Zambian team in 1993 was also going to be the first team from southern/eastern African to qualify for the World Cup. The nation's Golden Generation.
posted by owlhouse at 12:07 AM on September 08, 2011
This is a pretty gut wrenching story:
Reality Check
posted by NoMich at 10:35 AM on September 08, 2011
A horrible tragedy.
Is this the first professional team to suffer this sort of thing?
I wonder what sort of contingency plans the league (or any league) have set up for an entire team being killed.
It happened to the Marshall football team, the U.S. Olympic figure skating team, and the Uruguayan national rugby team, so there wasn't a professional league involved.
I suspect it will be a cancellation of all their games for this season, and possibly a dispersal draft from the rest of the league before next season.
The sports stations will (I assume) have reports out about how each of the different North American leagues would handle something like this.