SHOCKING NEWS: 43 Hockey Players Dead In A Plane Crash!

A plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia on Wednesday afternoon has claimed the lives of 43 people, according to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. 

The majority of victims were members of the Kontinental Hockey League club, Lokomotiv.

Lokomotiv’s main roster, plus four players from the youth team, was on the plane, according to officials.

“The whole team was on the plane,” Vladimir Malkov, Lokomotiv’s spokesman, said in comments broadcast on state television.

Coach Brad McCrimmon, forward Pavol Demitra, defenseman Ruslan Salei, forwardJosef Vasicek, defenseman Karel Rachunek, forward Jan Marek, forward Alexander Vasyunov, defenseman Karlis Skrastins and goalie Stefan Liv are among the confirmed fatalities.

Eight crew members are also among the dead, according to Russian emergency management officials.

The KHL suspended all games until Monday, a five-day hiatus for mourning. They also vowed that the Lokomotiv team would be rebuilt in time to compete in this season’s games.

KHL President Alexander Medveded said Thursday that he will ask each team in the league to volunteer up to three players each toward a draft pool for the new Lokomotiv team. Such a move would give Lokomotiv 40 to 45 players from which to choose a new roster.

Lokomotiv would also promote a handful of players from its youth team to be part of its senior team.

According to reports, Pyotr Vorobyov will be named the new coach. Vorobyov was coaching the Lokomotiv junior team and also coached the senior team to its 1997 Russian Superleague championship.

The crash, one of the worst in the history of sports, occurred at 4 p.m. Moscow time and the weather was sunny and clear, according to reports. Officials have said the plane overshot the runway during takeoff at the Tunoshna airport as it struggled to gain altitude.

Investigators spent Thursday morning trying to reach the plane’s black boxes, which contain the flight data. The boxes are located in the tail section of the Yakolev-42 plane, which is partially submerged in the Volga. Search and rescue activities halted at 1 a.m. Thursday morning before resuming at 7 a.m.

Two passengers survived the crash, but are in critical condition. One of the survivors is Russian forward Alexander Galimov, who suffered burns across 80 percent of his body. Both survivors were transported to a Moscow hospital on Thursday morning.

The crash had ripple effects throughout the global hockey community.

“Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world — including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

“This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from ten nations,” International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel said in a statement.

Close to 3,000 mourning fans wearing jerseys and scarves gathered Wednesday evening at the Lokomotiv stadium to pay their respects. There is an official memorial scheduled for Saturday at the team’s arena.

Many of the players in Wednesday’s crash had ties to the NHL.

McCrimmon played in the NHL and most recently served as an assistant coach with theDetroit Red Wings before taking the Yaroslavl job in May. The Russian Times confirmed McCrimmon died in the crash.

McCrimmon played defense for six NHL teams — Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix — in a 17-year career, appearing in 1,222 regular-season games in the NHL, collecting 81 goals, 322 assists and 1,416 penalty minutes.

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