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Russian jet carrying hockey team Lokomotiv crashes

I was taken aback by news of this crash, all the more so, for our sport of hockey, having suffered yet more tragedy upon tragedy...

Condolences to all of the victim's families.  Words can never heal the pain. 

Rest in peace, brave souls.  All.
 
Dynamo Minsk, due to play Lokomotiv Yaroslavl today, held a memorial in honour of the fallen players. Here's the abbreviated version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI8YPm_tYXA&feature=player_embedded

Here's the full version (official video from the KHL):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OtPPB4r-o6Y

Very touching ceremony.

Article explaining the ceremony
 
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41690-Campbell-Remembering-Igor-Korolev-and-Alexander-Karpovtsev.html

Note: Korolev played four years and Karpotsev two, for the Leafs, respcetively, then became assistant coaches for Locomotiv.


article_41690_2-1.jpg



Korolev was quiet and introspective, but he was also a wonderful guy who was engaging and interesting once the cameras and tape recorders were turned off. After being claimed on waivers by the Winnipeg Jets in 1995, Korolev pursued Canadian citizenship along with his wife after his children were born here. While he was preparing to take the citizenship test, he would often engage the media in discussions about Canadian politics. He took his duties as a citizen of Canada seriously and was proud of his adopted country.

By the time he joined the Leafs, he had carved a niche as a third-line player and able penalty-killer. He certainly knew both ends of the ice well enough to excel defensively and score 20 goals for the Leafs one season. And in a dressing room that could have been fractured by the fact there were as many as five Russians on the team at the time, Korolev was a binding force. He was also a team leader among the Russian Maple Leaf players that included Dmitry Yushkevich, Danny Markov, Sergei Berezin and Karpovtsev.

6124567008_aea2fb340c.jpg

In Karpovtsev, the Leafs got a Stanley Cup winner and a terrific defensive defenseman when they acquired him from the New York Rangers in exchange for Mathieu Schneider in 1998. Prior to coming to Toronto, Karpovtsev had a reputation for being brittle. And while he missed his fair share of games with the Leafs,...  the kind of guy who would never hesitate to step in front of a slapshot or battle for possession in the corner.



And his hockey IQ was off the charts. He always seemed to be in perfect defensive position and thought the game on a higher level than most. During one game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Leafs were killing a penalty and were forced to take a draw deep in their own end against Ron Francis, who at the time was one of the top faceoff men in the league. Prior to the puck being dropped, Karpovtsev gently nudged his centerman out of the faceoff circle and took the draw himself. His thinking was that regardless of who took the faceoff, the Leafs would likely lose it and if that were the case, by taking the draw he would at least have body position on Francis in front of the net.

And while he was also very quiet, he was a proud player as well.


What makes this even more tragic was Korolev died one day after his 41st birthday, while Karpovtsev was the same age.

 
I saw a tweet last night quoting the Lokomotiv team president saying that Lokomotiv will not play this year, in spite of the plans in place with the KHL. Here's a link to a related article.

http://en.rian.ru/sports/20110910/166693033.html
 
http://rt.com/news/lokomotiv-children-disease-crash-021/

Oh my god. :'( This just puts the icing on an already very heartbreaking cake.
 
Bender said:
http://rt.com/news/lokomotiv-children-disease-crash-021/

Oh my god. :'( This just puts the icing on an already very heartbreaking cake.
Click to expand...

What an incredible story.
 
Pilot error blamed for crash.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1079839--pilot-error-blamed-in-russian-crash-that-killed-hockey-team?bn=1
 
Looks like it was not a weight & balance issue as I had expected and pilot error (like most aviation incidents) caused the crash.

MOSCOW -- Investigators say a Russian jet crash that killed 44 people, including an entire professional ice hockey team, was caused by pilot error.

The Interstate Aviation Committee said Wednesday that the Sept. 7 crash of the Yak-42 plane near the city of Yaroslavl in central Russia occurred because one of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes during takeoff and then lifted the jet too sharply, causing it to crash.

The plane crashed into the banks of the Volga River, 150 miles northeast of Moscow.

It was one of the worst aviation disasters ever in sports, shocking Russia and the world of hockey, as the dead included 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team. The only player who survived the crash later died of burns. A flight engineer was the sole survivor.








 
 
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