Russian plane carrying hockey team crashes killing 43

A plane carrying the members of Kontinental Hockey League team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed, killing 43 of the 45 passengers.

The flight was scheduled to take the team to their opening game of the season against Dinamo Minsk in Belarus but crashed shortly after takeoff, according to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry. Former NHL players on the roster include Josef Vasicek, Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins as well as coaches Brad McCrimmon, Alexander Karpotsev and Igor Korolev. Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Alexander Galimov is the only player to survive the crash with the other survivor believed to be a member of the flight crew. A Lokomotiv official told SovSport (translated via Yahoo Sports), "The plane with our team was supposed to take off around 4 p.m. At first we didn't want to believe it. But right now there is no hope. The team is gone. I heard that there are two people [who survived] and are in critical condition." Team officials are confirming (via Yahoo) that the entire roster was on the plane when it crashed. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash, 15 kilometres east of Yaroslavl, NHL.com writes. The crash comes in what has already been a summer of tragedy for the hockey world having already lost three players to premature deaths. More details are expected to be released as the story develops.