The plane crash that claimed the lives of at least 43 people, including players and coaches of the Russian hockey league team Locomotiv has stunned the sporting world.
Several former NHLers, including former Kings forward Pavol Demitra and Ducks defenseman Ruslan Salei were among the people killed when the team's flight when down shortly after takeoff Wednesday from an airport in Yaroslav, Russia.
Here are some reactions to the tragedy:
“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 10 nations. This is a terrible tragedy for the global ice hockey community with so many nationalities involved. Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends of the victims. Despite the substantial air travel of professional hockey teams, our sport has been spared from tragic traffic accidents. But only until now.”
— International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel
“We will do our best to ensure that hockey in Yaroslavl does not die, and that it continues to live for the people that were on that plane.”
— Russian Ice Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretyak
“The news about their death has been a shock for us. Jan Marek, Karel Rachunek and Josef Vasicek contributed greatly to the best successes of our ice hockey in the recent years, first of all to the gold medals at the world championships in 2005 and 2010. They were excellent players, but also great friends and personalities. That's how we will remember them.”
— Czech Ice Hockey association president Tomas Kral
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