Plane Carrying KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Crashes
The summer of tragedy continues this morning with the news of a plane crash in Russia. The plane was transporting a local hockey team coached by former Detroit Red Wings assistant bench boss, Brad McCrimmon. Unofficial at the moment, 36 people are reported dead, that number is expected to rise as details come in.
McCrimmon, 52, head coach of the KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was one of the two assistant coaches with the Detroit Red Wings last year. He is a former Wings player and hadhelped coach them for three seasons. A former Red Wings prospect, Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, is also on the Lokomotiv team. Former Wings defender Ruslan Salei, who played for the Wings last year, is on the team, too.
The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The league is made up of several ex-Soviet nations.
Former NHL players Salei, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, and Josef Vasicek all play for Lokomotiv. This is the latest slice of tragic news following the deaths of tough guys Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak – all within the past four months.
Update: The AP is reporting 43 are now confirmed dead.
The ministry said the plane was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew. The ministry said all but two people were killed in the crash.
It wasn't immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42 on Wednesday.
SovSport is reporting that Alexander Galimov is one of the two survivors and that another is a crew member.
