September 25, 2021

Remembering Yaroslavl's Lost Hockey Team


Remembering Yaroslavl's Lost Hockey Team
Yaroslavl Memorial at Arena-2000. Via Kremlin.ru

Ten years ago this month, Yaroslavl's entire Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) team was wiped out in one freak airplane accident.

Dubbed Lokomotiv (locomotive, or train), the team has been around since 1959 and has gone by five names in its history.

On September 7, 2011, a Yak-Service flight headed from Yaroslavl to Minsk, Belarus, for a game against Dinamo Minsk plunged to the earth only seconds after takeoff. Everyone died except for one aircraft mechanic onboard. One player survived the crash but, with burns on 80% of his body, died in the hospital five days later. Perhaps the most famous players lost were Czech former NHLer Pavol Demitra and Belarusian former NHLer Ruslan Salei. Also killed was former NHLer and team coach Igor Korolev.

Yak-Service was a regional Russian airline out of Moscow with which the team routinely traveled. After the 2011 crash, it had its license revoked. The plane could not gain altitude after taking off. The accident was attributed to crew error, but it was later revealed that the pilot had falsified documents in order to gain permission to fly the Yak-42 aircraft for which he was not trained.

With no players and little front office staff, Lokomotiv sat out the 2011-2012 season and rejoined the following season with a whole new set of players.

About 100,000 people attended the farewell ceremony at Lokomotiv's arena in 2011. The city had a population of less than 600,000. Putin was among the mourners. Even the NHL in North America played several games in memory of the Yaroslavl team, wearing special patches.

Oddly enough, the Lokomotiv crash was not even the first fatal plane crash of a Russian hockey team. In 1950, most of the Soviet Air Force team, VVS Moscow, was killed in a crash landing at the airport in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg).

Ruslan Salei gravesite
Ruslan Salei gravesite in Minsk. / Wikimedia Commons user Gruszecki

 

You Might Also Like

New Life Breathed into the Museum of Hockey
  • February 28, 2021

New Life Breathed into the Museum of Hockey

Moscow's stunning Museum of Hockey and Hockey Hall of Fame is a hidden gem with new investors ready to keep it going – hopefully for a long time to come.
KHL Victor Crowned
  • May 23, 2021

KHL Victor Crowned

Omsk Avangard clinches Russian hockey's Gagarin Cup with some famous NHL faces.
Holier Hockey
  • September 20, 2021

Holier Hockey

In which a Russian priest becomes a hockey referee and begins to transform the sport. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955