Ex-Red Wing assistant coach's hockey team in Russian plane crash; 36 dead
Associated Press
Moscow— A Russian jet carrying a top local ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing 36 people and leaving one critically injured, officials said.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles northeast of Moscow. It said one person survived the crash with grave injuries.
There was no immediate word on weather conditions.
The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl.
Brad McCrimmon, 52, head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was one of the two assistant coaches with the Detroit Red Wings last year. He is a former Wings player and hadhelped coach them for three seasons. A former Red Wings prospect,Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, is also on the Lokomotiv team. Former Wings defender Ruslan Salei, who played for the Wings last year, is on the team, too.
The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The league is made up of several ex-Soviet nations.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation's transport minister to the site of the crash, 10 miles east of Yaroslavl.
President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines.
In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110907/...#ixzz1XH8Rvbgw

A Russian jet carrying a top hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing 43 people and leaving two critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River, 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow.

The ministry said the plane was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew. All but two were killed in the crash.

The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team from Yaroslavl.

The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dynamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League.

The KHL is an international club league that pits together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a leading force in Russian hockey and came third in the KHL last year. It's coached by Canadian Brad McCrimmon and includes several international stars in its ranks, such as Stefan Liv of Sweden and Czech Republic players Josef Vaicek and Jan Marek. Lokomotiv was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002 and 2003 and took the bronze last season.

It wasn't immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash, 15 kilometres east of Yaroslavl.

Former Montreal Canadien Brent Sopel, who is now playing in Russia, tweeted shortly after the crash: "In shock. Prayers out to all of the KHL families."

McCrimmon, 52, is a native of Saskatchewan. He played defence for six NHL teams -- Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix from 1979-80 to 1996-97.

He played 1,222 regular season games in the NHL, collecting 81 goals, 322 assists and 1,416 penalty minutes.

McCrimmon was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings. He also served as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades.

The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines.

In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.

President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year.

The Kings issued this statement Wednesday: "The Los Angeles Kings organization is deeply saddened with the tragic news of this morning’s plane crash in Russia that was carrying the members of the KHL’s Lokomotiv organization, including former Kings forward Pavol Demitra, former Kings prospect Jan Marek and many other members of the NHL family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the family and friends of those affected by this terrible occurrence."]

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins addressed the media regarding the star centre's concussion symptoms for the first time this off-season, confirming that while he is on the path to full recovery but is not yet ready to rejoin his team in full practice.

While there is no timetable currently set for his return, Crosby said that it is likely he will play at some point this season.

"It's a difficult thing to go though and trust me I'd love to have answers myself sometimes when I was going through that but it's not as easy as that," said Crosby.

Dr. Michael Collins, one of two doctors who have worked with Crosby since the time of his injury, spoke at the press conference saying that while he expected Crosby to undergo a long recovery time when he first dealt with the injury, he has seen significant improvement recently and that his data is approaching normal limits.

"I see this as a manageable injury and we're making progress in Sid's case and I anticipate Sid returning to hockey and playing well in the future," said Collins.

He added that Crosby is currently in conditioning mode, and will not return until he is 100% recovered. He added that Crosby, while feeling better, isn't close to being cleared for contact.

The doctors said that Crosby was around 90% exertion rate during his workouts when he started to feel symptoms again and was shut down.

Crosby said that he feels more positive about recovering from the injury now than he has in a long time and that he is finally over the worse and on the path to making progress. He said that he never really considered retiring.

Crosby suffered a concussion during the Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals on New Year's Day. He returned four days later but left the January 5 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after being hit into the boards. Crosby sat out the remainder of the season.

Penguins General Manager Ray Shero opened the press conference with a statement extending the team's condolences Lokomotiv team plane crash in Russia.

It’s horrible to consider — a plane crash wipes out an entire NHL team — but the league has thought about it nonetheless.

That’s why the league requires teams to have a $1-million (all figures US) insurance policy on each player, one of the provisos in the NHL bylaws made public over the weekend in court filings regarding the bankruptcy of the Phoenix Coyotes.

If a team is left with fewer than 14 players and one goaltender following some sort of catastrophe, the league sets in motion its Emergency Rehabilitation Plan.

First, the “disabled team” would be allowed to negotiate to buy players under contract from other teams, with payment coming from the insurance money.

If that didn’t fill out the roster, a draft would be held, much like an expansion draft. Teams could protect 10 players and one goalie.

The disabled team would be allowed to take no more than one player from each of the other teams. The price for each player is $1 million in insurance money.

Stanley Cup hero Milan Lucic was questioned by police early yesterday after he and his girlfriend got into an altercation in the North End.

According to a police report of the incident, the Bruins [team stats] left winger was “highly intoxicated and hostile” after he and his galpal argued outside a Starbucks on Commercial Street shortly before 1:30 a.m.

Witnesses told police the 6-foot-4, 220-pound hockey player was yelling at his girlfriend, who was on the ground, and at one point threw her shoes and purse at her. However, the woman told police she was not physically assaulted and “was adamant about not being harmed,” the report states. Police “did not observe any visible injuries,” the report says, and Lucic was not charged.

Bruins spokesman Matt Chmura confirmed that the team was “aware of an incident that took place in the North End early Tuesday morning involving Milan Lucic.”

“We are addressing the matter internally,” Chmura said. “At this time we have no further comment.”

Lucic’s marketing rep, Cleon Daskalakis, president of Celebrity Marketing, spoke to the hockey star yesterday after he was contacted by the Herald and said Lucic told him, “ ‘Yeah, we created some noise,’ ” but that it was “a complete misunderstanding” and “everything’s great with us.”

“There’s times in a relationship when things get a little louder than they should and one thing leads to another,” Daskalakis said, “but I know there’s no way Milan would raise a hand to her. He loves her. The situation sounds a lot worse than it was.”

Daskalakis said the left winger would not be issuing a statement. “It’s a private matter,” he said. “No one was hurt. No one was charged.”

According to the police report, patrons outside the Four Winds bar told them that a female wearing a silver-sequined dress ran up Fleet Street crying while a man in a black T-shirt with No. 22 on it followed behind her. Police questioned Lucic outside his condo and he told them: “My girlfriend is upstairs. We had an argument. We’re fine. Why are you here at my house?”

As the officer continued to question Lucic, he “slammed his cell phone to the ground and yelled ‘Do you know who I am?’ ” the police report states. At which point, the officer asked for identification and Lucic produced an ID from Vancouver, Canada.

Because no witnesses observed any physical assault and the girlfriend told police she “was not touched,” Lucic was not charged, but both he and his galpal “were informed of their rights under MGL 209A,” (Massachusetts General Laws on abuse prevention) the report states.

Daskalakis said Lucic has been under “a lot of pressure” since the B’s won the Stanley Cup, but stressed, “He’s a great guy.”

“He’s one of the nicest people you could possibly ever meet,” Daskalakis said. “You’d want him dating your daughter. He’s held to a higher standard. I honestly believe he’s upholding that standard.”