Geez. When will it end.
I was saddened with loss of Derek Boogaard. It was quite a depressing occurrence. The fact that a current NHL player, someone who was beloved by the fans and other players, could just vanish from the world in just a blink of the eye.
I was distraught when I heard the news that Rick Rypien passed away. I felt bad that the NHL lost 2 such valuable people who were still playing in the league.
When I heard that former NHLer Wade Belak died, I was upset that such a loss had to hit the hockey community. When one hockey player passes away, it isn't only felt by a player or fan of that team. It effects everyone involved in the great game. I'm someone that never really saw too much of any of the 3 players but I understood the type of player they were and felt the pain that the fans felt. Once again; the hockey world is a place where hockey fans all over the world are bonded with this sport.
Earlier today, I received several terrifyingly bitter news. It was in the form of a tweet and this is what it said:
"BREAKING: A terrible tragedy in Russia. A charter plane carrying the KHL's Lokomotiv crashed. Only one person survived."
After reading that tweet, I wanted to hear the details. And it didn't take long for them to reach me. Here's what the AP reported: "A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing at least 43 people and leaving two 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 (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and the ministry said all but two people were killed in the crash."
Now I'm not a KHL expert but I've heard the name Lokomotiv more than once so I knew that this was a big time team. Now many names jump out at you right away from the roster. Former NHL players that were now in Russia playing professionally there. They are Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Strastins, and Stefan Liv. Being a life-long NHL fan, I knew all of these players. Some more than others, but I still knew them all and was extremely sad to find out. I felt terrible that these amazing athletes had their lives cut short.
Well one player on the list of the deceased caught my eye. It was none other than New Jersey Devils prospect Alexander Vasyunov. I remembered Vasyunov from this season. He was one of those young, quick, and skillful players that brought a lot to the table. He was relentless on the attack and was an energetic player on the team. I was pretty proud of the youngster when he picked up his first career NHL goal. Well I just felt terrible when I saw he was a passenger on today's tragic flight.
The news of this terrible plane crash put me in a downright somber mood throughout the day, a mood that was quickly noticed by my peers in school. They couldn't quite understand what made me so terribly sad that a team so far away from where we were with a team I didn't necessarily care for crashed. And this connects to what I was talking about earlier. While it is true, I'm not 100% down on my KHL teams and players, this was an even that completely effected everyone in the hockey community. Whether you knew someone on the flight or not, if you're a hockey fan, you felt awful. And this is what makes our sport unique. The unity throughout the world by all our fans.
Well hopefully these string of unfortunate events end shortly. Already so many tragic happenings throughout the year has left many of us in shock. This most recent event will definitely leave a mark on the hockey community for years on end. But all we can do now is remember the players that left us and not to let their memories die.
I was saddened with loss of Derek Boogaard. It was quite a depressing occurrence. The fact that a current NHL player, someone who was beloved by the fans and other players, could just vanish from the world in just a blink of the eye.
I was distraught when I heard the news that Rick Rypien passed away. I felt bad that the NHL lost 2 such valuable people who were still playing in the league.
When I heard that former NHLer Wade Belak died, I was upset that such a loss had to hit the hockey community. When one hockey player passes away, it isn't only felt by a player or fan of that team. It effects everyone involved in the great game. I'm someone that never really saw too much of any of the 3 players but I understood the type of player they were and felt the pain that the fans felt. Once again; the hockey world is a place where hockey fans all over the world are bonded with this sport.
Earlier today, I received several terrifyingly bitter news. It was in the form of a tweet and this is what it said:
"BREAKING: A terrible tragedy in Russia. A charter plane carrying the KHL's Lokomotiv crashed. Only one person survived."
After reading that tweet, I wanted to hear the details. And it didn't take long for them to reach me. Here's what the AP reported: "A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing at least 43 people and leaving two 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 (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and the ministry said all but two people were killed in the crash."
Now I'm not a KHL expert but I've heard the name Lokomotiv more than once so I knew that this was a big time team. Now many names jump out at you right away from the roster. Former NHL players that were now in Russia playing professionally there. They are Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Strastins, and Stefan Liv. Being a life-long NHL fan, I knew all of these players. Some more than others, but I still knew them all and was extremely sad to find out. I felt terrible that these amazing athletes had their lives cut short.
Well one player on the list of the deceased caught my eye. It was none other than New Jersey Devils prospect Alexander Vasyunov. I remembered Vasyunov from this season. He was one of those young, quick, and skillful players that brought a lot to the table. He was relentless on the attack and was an energetic player on the team. I was pretty proud of the youngster when he picked up his first career NHL goal. Well I just felt terrible when I saw he was a passenger on today's tragic flight.
The news of this terrible plane crash put me in a downright somber mood throughout the day, a mood that was quickly noticed by my peers in school. They couldn't quite understand what made me so terribly sad that a team so far away from where we were with a team I didn't necessarily care for crashed. And this connects to what I was talking about earlier. While it is true, I'm not 100% down on my KHL teams and players, this was an even that completely effected everyone in the hockey community. Whether you knew someone on the flight or not, if you're a hockey fan, you felt awful. And this is what makes our sport unique. The unity throughout the world by all our fans.
Well hopefully these string of unfortunate events end shortly. Already so many tragic happenings throughout the year has left many of us in shock. This most recent event will definitely leave a mark on the hockey community for years on end. But all we can do now is remember the players that left us and not to let their memories die.
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