It's a KHL team, which is the Russian version of the NHL, but the team includes a lot of former NHL talent. It's believed that Stefan Liiv, who was the goalie for the gold medal winning Swedish olympic team a few years ago, was on board, as well as the coach Brad McCrimmon, and Defenseman Ruslan Salei, all of whom were with the Detroit Red Wings last year, which only makes this extra sad for me personally. There were a number of other players on the team as well with ties to various NHL teams.
Pretty much the entire team is gone. It's incredible that things like this still happen, perhaps as outrageous as it is depressing. There was no bad weather, which suggests pilot error or mechanical error.
It's a sad day for hockey. Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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That's just awful. It sounds kind of like the Busby Babes - a group of young Manchester United players, a lot of whom died in a plane crash in the late fifties.
They've never been forgotten, and I doubt these players will be either.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Losing a hockey team in Russia is like the U.S. losing an NFL team: a major sport with a large following. Then imagine losing the Patriots, Packers or Steelers. That's the kind of blow Russian sports is currently enduring.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Oct 2000
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