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Full Link can be found Former NHL players die in plane crash | Hockey | Sports | Toronto Sun
A Canadian hockey coach is among the dead after a passenger plane carrying a Russian hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff near the city of Yaroslavl, Russia, on Wednesday, killing 43 of the 45 people on board.
Saskatchewan native and former NHLer Brad McCrimmon was killed when a Yak-42 aircraft from Russia to Belarus carrying KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team crashed.
McCrimmon was the team's new coach.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said there were 37 passengers and eight crew members on board, but only two survivors.
Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov was one of the survivors, his agent confirmed to Sovetsky Sport. The other was a flight attendant named Alexander Sizov.
Both are in serious condition and Galimov reportedly has burns covering 80% of his body.
The only other Canadian on the team, ex-NHLer Riley Armstrong, was not on board.
He confirmed Wednesday morning via Twitter that he was not on the flight because he has plans to attend training camp in St. John's, N.L.
"I'm safe but thanks for the kind words but pray and think of the players and their families on that flight," he tweeted from Saskatoon.
Early media reports said Montreal's Ramzi Abid was on the team as well, but according to multiple QMI Agency sources, he's still playing for the Salzburg Red Bulls in Austria.
McCrimmon, 52, from Dodsland, Sask., played for six NHL teams: Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix. He was also an assistant coach for the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings.
Pavol Demitra, who played for the Ottawa Senators from 1993 to 1996 and the Vancouver Canucks from 2008 to 2010, was also among the crash's victims.
Matt Keator, Demitra's Boston-based agent, told QMI Agency he was in shock. Demitra left behind his wife, Mya, along with two children.
Other NHL players on the roster include Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Ruslan Salei and Josef Vasicek.
Sovetsky Sport reports that 36 bodies have been pulled from the rubble so far.
"We are only beginning to understand the impact of this tragedy affecting the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club and the international hockey community. First and foremost, our condolences go out to the families and friends of the players, coaches and staff lost in today's tragedy," the KHL said in a statement.
-- With files from Reuters, Bruce Garrioch
A Canadian hockey coach is among the dead after a passenger plane carrying a Russian hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff near the city of Yaroslavl, Russia, on Wednesday, killing 43 of the 45 people on board.
Saskatchewan native and former NHLer Brad McCrimmon was killed when a Yak-42 aircraft from Russia to Belarus carrying KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team crashed.
McCrimmon was the team's new coach.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said there were 37 passengers and eight crew members on board, but only two survivors.
Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov was one of the survivors, his agent confirmed to Sovetsky Sport. The other was a flight attendant named Alexander Sizov.
Both are in serious condition and Galimov reportedly has burns covering 80% of his body.
The only other Canadian on the team, ex-NHLer Riley Armstrong, was not on board.
He confirmed Wednesday morning via Twitter that he was not on the flight because he has plans to attend training camp in St. John's, N.L.
"I'm safe but thanks for the kind words but pray and think of the players and their families on that flight," he tweeted from Saskatoon.
Early media reports said Montreal's Ramzi Abid was on the team as well, but according to multiple QMI Agency sources, he's still playing for the Salzburg Red Bulls in Austria.
McCrimmon, 52, from Dodsland, Sask., played for six NHL teams: Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix. He was also an assistant coach for the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings.
Pavol Demitra, who played for the Ottawa Senators from 1993 to 1996 and the Vancouver Canucks from 2008 to 2010, was also among the crash's victims.
Matt Keator, Demitra's Boston-based agent, told QMI Agency he was in shock. Demitra left behind his wife, Mya, along with two children.
Other NHL players on the roster include Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Ruslan Salei and Josef Vasicek.
Sovetsky Sport reports that 36 bodies have been pulled from the rubble so far.
"We are only beginning to understand the impact of this tragedy affecting the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club and the international hockey community. First and foremost, our condolences go out to the families and friends of the players, coaches and staff lost in today's tragedy," the KHL said in a statement.
-- With files from Reuters, Bruce Garrioch
