The tragedy of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

I haven't blogged in a while, and I wanted this to be my first entry now that I am writing again. It took me quite a while to gather my thoughts and to find a way to make a personal response regarding the horrible tragedy of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that took place on September 7th, 2011. Over a month later and having had ample time to reflect, I think I can now put my thoughts into the most appropriate words for understanding the gravity of situation and its impact on hockey and on myself.

Brad McCrimmon

The crash claimed the lives of the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.  Nine members of the team I had once watched play in the NHL and had collected their hockey cards over the years; a few of whom since my boyhood. Coach Brad McCrimmon, assistant coaches Alexander Karpovtsev and Igor Korolev had been players that I had grown up watching when they starred in the NHL. At 9-years of age, I fondly remember Brad McCrimmon being instrumental for the 1989 Calgary Flames when they won their first and only Stanley Cup. I have McCrimmon's rookie card in a plastic sleeve set aside in a special box with many of my other cards that I treasure. I even remember seeing him play in person towards the end of his career with the Hartford Whalers during a game against the Buffalo Sabres in the old Memorial Auditorium.

Alexander Karpovtsev

Alexander Karpotsev was always one of my most favorite defensemen. He was openly criticized for laziness and being a soft player by some, who also acknowledged his immense talent when he put the effort in. I cannot help but wonder how some of Karpovtsev's most ardent critics must feel, what thoughts went through their minds when they learned that he had perished in this plane crash. I do not intend to sound morbid by posing this question. Rather, I am highly sympathetic. I would not know how to cope with openly criticizing someone and then learning that they had lost their life in such a horrific accident. I think of Karpovtsev in a much more positive light, though. I can still recall watching on television as Karpovtsev raised the Stanley Cup above his head in 1994 with the New York Rangers. He was a healthy-scratch that night and lifted the Cup over his held while wearing a shirt and tie and screaming a triumphant victory cry. Karpovtsev was one of the last Rangers to lift the Cup on the ice that night before the team went to celebrate inside the locker room. But he became one of the first four Russians ever to have his name enscribed on the Stanley Cup, along with teammates Sergei Zubov, Sergei Nemchinov and Alexei Kovalev.

Igor Korolev

Igor Korolev played in nearly 800 NHL games beginning in the early 1990s and then into the 2000s. I remember that when Korolev first broke into the NHL with the St. Louis Blues in 1992, he was part of the short-lived "Moscow Express Line" with teammates Vitali Karamnov and Vitali Prokhorov. Korolev would have much more longevity in the league than his two counterparts, moving on to play with the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks for many more years following his days in St. Louis. But what impressed me most about Igor Korolev was the way he was portrayed in Dave King's 2007 book "King of Russia: A Year in the Russian Super League". King documents his time as head coach of the Metallurg Magnitogorsk hockey club in the Russian Super League. The book discussed King's adjustments to life and coaching hockey in Russia, as he became the first Canadian coach to do so. Korolev, one of King's players for Magnitogorsk that year, was one of the few players on the team who had played in the NHL before and could also speak English. Reading the book, King talks in such high regard of Igor Korolev for how hard he worked on the ice during games, how much of a leader and inspiration he was to the younger players on the squad, and how integral a part he was for the success of the team. I was always impressed by Igor Korolev after reading that book.

Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Karel Rachunek, Alexander Vasyunov and Josef Vasicek were all players whom I had seen play throughout the years as well. I respect all of them for what they were able to accomplish as players. Perhaps I still cannot fully comprehend the loss of so many players that I had watched and admired who were taken from the world in an instant. It is too difficult to fathom and to grasp, though I am trying.

I also believe that I was touched in ways by this tragedy that others were not and could not fully understand unless they were in my shoes. Many, many more people were impacted on a far deeper level than I, and I am certainly not attempting to say my grief is greater than others or to make some type of comparision. But I think that my experience with this tragedy is unique in many ways.

I have traveled somewhat extensively in Russia. I have visited the country on five separate occasions. I have been in the cities of Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Ulyanovsk, Samara and Dimitrovgrad. I have taken flights on numerous occasions and made connections in the Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Samara airports. Samara's airport is highly outdated, especially on arrival. You land in the middle of an open runway and gather your luggage in an old dilapidated "barn", for lack of a better word. I have studied the Russian language and can speak it fairly well, though I am getting rusty. I have known and have been very close with many Russians and have numerous Russian friends. I think that maybe I have an insight into how the Russian people may have felt when this tragedy took place.

Yury Urychev

During the weeks surrounding Christmas 2010 and New Year's 2011, I had the rare privilege of being able to work the World Junior Hockey Championships of 2011 when they came to Buffalo, New York. I worked 10 of the games that were hosted at Dwyer Arena at Niagara University. During that time I befriended members of the Russian contigent and Team Russia, some of whom I still remain in touch with. Team Russia was one of the four teams that were hosted at Dwyer Arena. I was in their locker room, I watched their practices and saw all of their games that were hosted at our arena. Team Russia would win the Gold Medal of the tournament by defeating Team Canada in the stunning Gold Medal game in Downtown Buffalo. Yuri Urychev and Daniil Sobchenko were both members of the Yaroslavl hockey club who I had seen play and practice during this tournament. The friends whom I had met during the 2011 World Juniors from the Russian contigent were all heartbroken and devasted by the loss of these two young men. Day after day following the plane crash, I read their posts on Facebook and saw how they grieved. I sent consoling messages to them, with the hope that at the very least they would know that the loss that they were experiencing was recognized and that they were being thought of during their time of grief.

Alexander Galimov

In the brief time following the plane crash, I prayed daily that Alexander Galimov, originally the lone surviving member of the Yaroslavl hockey club, would live and be able to recover from his horrific injuries. He was the one ray of hope that at least one member of the team would live on. That at least one player could survive would provide consolation to all of the grief-stricken hearts. But that was not to be, as Galimov would eventually succumb to the burns he sustained in the crash on September 12th. Perhaps comfort can be taken in knowing that Galimov would no longer be suffering from the excruciating pain of injuries such as these and he would not need to face that endless road ahead of trying to recover. He is at peace now with the rest of his teammates.

By putting my thoughts together here, I will move forward from this tragedy and find my own closure with it. May all the members of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl rest in peace. They will never be forgotten and they will continue to live on in the hearts of the people who knew them personally as well as those that had the honor of seeing them play.