Russian Plane Crashes Killing 43 Members of KHL team Lokomotiv and Crew

An absolute tragic event has taken place today thousands of miles around the world.  A Russian plane leaving from the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia crashed shortly after takeoff on it's way to Minsk, Belarus.  The plane was carry the entire KHL team Lokomotiv's active roster.

The plane was believe to have trouble getting up to an adequate altitude shortly after takeoff.  The plane was believed to only hold 100 people, and the plane was carrying at least 43 people and all the team's equipment.

Lokomotiv's entire main roster, as well as it's coaching staff, and 4 members of it's youth roster were all killed.  Among the fatalities were 8 crew members.  The crash really hit home here in the NHL when it was realized that several of the people on board had long NHL histories as players and coaches.

According to NHL.com, "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, founded in 1949 as the team of the Railways Ministry, is one of Russia's leading hockey teams and came runner up in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2008 and 2009. In 1997 it took the Russian Superleague title and won back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003."

Among the most notable players involved in the crash were Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karl Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Alexander Vasyunov, Josef Vasicek, and coach Brad McCrimmon.

Gary Bettman issued a statement in regards to this terrible event stating, "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." 

There were several conflicting reports concerning the number of survivors, multiple times hearing that there were none to as many as two.  It is being reported that there are two survivors as of this moment, one of them being forward Alexander Galimov, who has suffered burns on nearly 80% of his body.  Both of the survivors are in critical condition.

The crash really hit home in the tri-state area, more specifically for some current Ranger's forward.  Ranger's Russian forward Artem Anisimov commented, "I knew half the team. I didn't believe it at first... then I felt sick."

Ranger's forward Marian Gaborik, who became very good friends with Demitra when they shared time in Minnesota tweeted, "Demo, u will always b in my heart. U were one of my best friends on and off the ice. U will be greatly missed by all of us. My condolences..."

Karl Rachunek also spent some time with the Ranger's, as did one of the coaches Alexander Karpovstev who was a popular member of the Ranger's Organization.

The National Hockey League Player's Association said in a statement, "The club included many former NHLPA members, as well as many members of the international hockey community. Words cannot express the profound sorrow that this loss has created. Our sincere condolences go out to the friends and families who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy." 

A tragic event that has not only hit the Russian Kontinental Hockey League hard, but a tragedy that has hit the hockey world spanning the area of 10 different countries, as well as families, friends, and fans all around the world.  A tough offseason for hockey indeed, but hopefully the upcoming hockey season will help ease the pain of a terrible couple of months and help in the grieving process.  May they all rest in peace.