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Monday, September 12, 2011

Our World Tuesday: sorrow on ice

© Photo by Richard Schear, August 2011

Yaroslavl, Russia, a lovely city at the confluence of the Volga (left) and Kotorosl rivers. Last year, Yaroslavl was 1000 years old, and the promenade shown above was part of its millennium celebration.
Internet photo
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, attends a memorial service in Yaroslavl with flowers for each of 36 members of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the Russian hockey team whose chartered plane crashed into the bank of the Volga River shortly after takeoff September 7. Forty-three people died, including nine former National Hockey League players who were playing for the championship Yaroslavl team. One player survived with burns to 90% of his body.

The team was on its way to Minsk, Belarus, for the first game of the 2011-2012 Kontinental Hockey League season. The city will not be represented in the KHL this season.

Internet photo
Lokomotiv Arena 2000, where the Yaroslavl team
played its home games.


© Photo by Richard Schear, August 2011
Billboard in Moscow celebrating 65 years of Canada-Russia rivalry in International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. 

Many countries in the world take the game of hockey very seriously. Russia is one such country, Sweden is another, Slovakia another, and of course there's Canada. Dick's excitement about seeing and photographing the above billboard was seriously tempered by the plane crash less than three weeks later, which claimed almost the entire Yaroslavl hockey team, including nine former NHL players.
Among them were Brad McCrimmon, once a star with Dick's favorite team, the Calgary Flames, about to start his first season as head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and Pavol Demitra, captain of the Slovakian national team, whose last season in the NHL was spent playing on the famous Sedin line for my hometown team, the Vancouver Canucks. McCrimmon was 52, Demitra was 36, and each of them is survived by a wife and two children.

Posted for Our World Tuesday
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32 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post Kay. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Tina´s PicStory said...

Beautiful seaside :)

Penelope Notes said...

The curved walkway in the first photo of Yaroslavl is lovely. But it does bring to mind a tragic event that is beyond understanding. In some ways the players in the airplane crash were like a family bound by the game of hockey. Their true families must feel horror and shock. Hopefully, we will learn more about how this could have happened and prevent a similar disaster in future. It does feel close to home, though.

jabblog said...

Very sad to see an entire team of young people destroyed in one fell swoop. It will take years for the team to recover - longer for their loved ones.

Sylvia K said...

Beautiful city, but how sad about the loss of the team! Hope you have a great week, Kay!

Sylvia

Martha Z said...

A nice tribute to these athletes. Each life is precious but often it is only when many die at once that we take notice.

Ebie said...

Oh, Kay, I remember that crash, it was sad. What an unfortunate event.

Love the aerial view of the first photo.

EG CameraGirl said...

It's such a sad story. Hockey has had many sad stories this year. Very nice tribute to the team, Kay!

Joyful said...

Such a beautiful setting for a city as your first photo shows. Such a tragic story but a wonderful tribute to the athletes.

eileeninmd said...

I remmember that crash too, it was very sad. What a nice post and tribute to the hockey team. Thansk for sharing.

Friko said...

It's like when the Manchester United football team's plane crashed, a dreadful tragedy for the sport.

Carver said...

Great shots of a beautiful place but what a sad thing to happen.

James said...

It so sad about the hockey team. I was shocked to hear about it.

I noticed your banner below. I don't know much about Stephen Harper but I'd love to make an even trade, your PM for our president! Heck I'll throw in the the VP too. :)

Indrani said...

That is most tragic.
Cruel blow of fate.

Jenn Jilks said...

You have amazing travels and photos. Well done.

Rajesh said...

Great first shot. The crash is very tragic anf this is great tribute from you.

Kay said...

Oh my goodness! This is so sad...

Just dropping by for a quick "Hello." My life is still crazy over here. It should settle down in a few days after our guests leave.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh how terribly sad.

Anonymous said...

Sweden is also in mourning for the loss of one of its ice hockey superstars.

Lovely tribute.

Cezar and Léia said...

Dear Kay,
Your pictures are amazing, thanks for sharing!
Léia

Gattina said...

Real sad, all these young people. The city looks beautiful.

SquirrelQueen said...

I remember reading about the crash, it was a tragic event. How horrible for their families and for the sport.

Arija said...

Such a tragic accident taking so many lives. Sometimes it is hard t understand why these things happen.

Jackie said...

Beautiful first photo of the promenade and rivers.

The aircrash and tragic loss of the hockey team of Yaroslavl and the others passengers involved was devastating.

It brings back memories of the aircrash that killed the Manchester Football team many years ago.

Al said...

That does look like a beautiful area. I was saddened too by this crash, two ex-players of our team, the Colorado Avalanche, were killed in that crash.

Kay L. Davies said...

@ Al — At first I intended to list all of the ex-NHL players who were killed, because so many of the names were familiar, but I decided I had to limit my post to the two from "our world". It is heartbreaking to think of all of them, though, including the young Russian players in Yaroslavl, a beautiful city we enjoyed so much.
— K

carolina mts said...

So sad to hear of this tragedy. Beautiful tribute.

Jenn Jilks said...

Hubby and I are the only 2 Canadians who don't watch hockey!!! :-) Happy trails.

Powell River Books said...

In 2006 the Powell River Regals hockey team went to Belarus to play in the Allan cup. Who knew. - Margy

Jo said...

Oh Kay, I was out of circulation on 7 Sept and didn't know about this tragic accident. Hope you're having a great day. Hugs Jo

Gemma Wiseman said...

That is an incredible tragedy! It must have been a shock to you, especially when you had just visited this area! In the midst of a 10000 year celebration there had to be deep sorrrow! That is hard!

On a lighter note, I love the grand sweep of the promenade in the first photo! So beautiful!

Cassie said...

Oh my, that was a dreadful crash. The nation must have been in deep mourning too. So very sad.