Yaroslav Lokomotiv

If you were to try to remember the last time a sports team suffered a catastrophic tragedy, the 1970 Marshall football team pops immediately into your head. Everyone was killed in a plane crash, except the players that were not scheduled to play in the game. Very recently, it happened again. Nearly the entire Jaroslav Lokomotiv hockey team was killed when their Yakovlev-42 passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff. The flight engineer and one player, Alexander Golimov, were the only survivors. Both, obviously, are in extremely critical condition.

This disaster, unfortunately, has claimed the lives of three Detroit Red Wings. Former defenseman Ruslan Salei, coach and past player Brad McCrimmon, and Red Wings goaltender prospect Stephan Liv. As if that weren't bad enough, the hockey world also lost Pavol Demetra, Alexander Karpotsev, Igor Korolev, and Karlis Skrastins. It should be noted that there are, at this time, conflicting reports about Ruslan Salei. However, it is being reported in Russia that he is among the deceased.

The town of Yaroslavl has been shaken to its foundations. Hell, the WORLD is in shock. There were moments of silence all over the world. In Russia, the only game that was being played has been canceled. In
Czechoslovakia, a huge (and growing)
memorial to the three Czech players killed
has been erected. And in 43 household
across the globe, there is now a missing
dad, brother, uncle or son.

As if the hockey world needed more trial
and tribulation following the deaths of Derek
Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak.

And that's all I have to say about that...