Russian Ice Hockey Team Killed in Plane Crash

Lokomotiv ice hockey team.
They all perished in the plane crash

Terrible news from Russia today as we learn that most everyone on board a small plane were killed on take off.

The Yak-42 aircraft was leaving Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, and flying to Minsk in Belarus.

It crashed immediately after take-off from the city, which is on the Volga River about 150 miles from the capital.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said 45 people had been on board and only two are believed to have survived.

The Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl, a leading force in Russian hockey, were travelling on the plane.

They were going to Belarus for the opening game of the season in the Kontinental Hockey League against Dinamo Minsk on Thursday.

The wreckage, from Russian TV, on the Volga River

"Lokomotiv is coached by Canadian Brad McCrimmon, former Detroit Red Wings assistant, and includes several international stars in its ranks, such as goalkeeper Stefan Liv of Sweden and Czech Republic players Karel Ranuchek, Josef Vasicek and Jan Marek and Slovakia's Pavol Demitra.

Demitra, the Slovakian national team captain, played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. Other top names include Russian defensemen Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins."

This is unbelievably tragic and hits close to home. Brad McCrimmon played for the NHL for 18 seasons. He spent years as a Philadelphia Flyers (1982-1987) playing with Big Tim Kerr, Brian Prop and the Sutter Brothers. He was a GREAT defenseman. After retiring as a player he became a coach on several teams.

He will be missed.



MSNBC News Article

Daily Mail News Article

Drink Like a Bruin

Boston Bruins player Zdeno Chara drinks
from the Stanley Cup as team mate Shawn Thornton drinks
straight from the world's most expensive bottle of champagne

If you are a Boston Bruin and you win the Stanley Cup, what is the first thing you do to celebrate?

Apparently, the answer is: Run up a $156,700 bar tab! That's right. Just SIX of the Bruins ran a mind blowing $156,700.000 beer/wine/champagne tab at the MGM Grand in Mashantucket, Connecticut on Saturday night.



To say they had a good time is a fucking understatement.

Did they have the Stanley Cup with them? YES.
Did they dance with their shirts off on top of the bar, Coyote Ugly style? YES.
With half naked girls? YES.
Did they order the world's most expensive champagne? YES
A $100,000 bottle of Ace of Spades Midas Champagne? OH HELL YES. THEY SURE DID.


"The champagne, Ace of Spades Midas, is only one of six of the 30-litre bottles in existence - well, five now. Made by luxury brand Armand de Brignac and produced by Champagne house Cattier, it is the largest bottle of luxury Champagne in the world. The gold metallic bottles are crafted entirely by hand, inspired by fashion designer Andre Courreges. They are housed in a black wooden case, lined with velvet and fitted with an engraved nameplate. Each is embossed with the Champagne's royal crest."

Well, if you're going to drink alcohol directly from the Stanley Cup, it might as well be champagne that costs as much for one bottle as it does to buy and own an entire house!

And a good time was had by all!

The Boston Bruins Win Lord Stanley's Cup

The Bruins won game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals last night 4-0 in Vancouver.

Such heartbreak for the poor Canucks who desparately wanted...needed...to win last night.

With one of the best home records of the year, it was a no-go when they needed it most. Just one more game at home. Heartbreak!

New England Teams continue to rack up trophies between the Bruins, ending their 40 year drought, the Red Sox and the Patriots.

Some are saying that the phenomenal eclipse last night was what the Bruins needed to win. Read this:

"It has been claimed that Thursday’s eclipse, the longest in more than a decade, “helped” the Bruins defeat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 to win their first cup in almost four decades.

Some observers have noted a similar turn of events occurred when the Boston Red Sox baseball team finally broke their drought in the World Series.

A total lunar eclipse occurred on October 27, 2004, when the team beat the St Louis Cardinals to sweep to their first Word Series title in 86 years.

According to reports in America, that eclipse was visible at Busch Stadium in St Louis where the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in Game 4.

The moon was also coloured red just as it was during Thursday’s eclipse."

Coincidence? Divine intervention? Either way, poor Vancouver lost. So sad.

Some upset Vancouver fans decided to riot and try and burn down their own city, instead of flying to Boston and burning them down.


In the meantime, Boston is planning a massive victory parade for Saturday. The team should be back in town in just a few hours.

Bruins Hit Causes Uproar

The Boston Bruins Montreal Canadiens game the other night turned serious when Zdeno Chara hit Max Pacioretty into a partition wall.

Max suffered terrible injuries, actually described as horrific. He has a neck fracture, a concussion and is still in the hospital.

The Montreal POLICE have opened a criminal investigation into the incident, but the NHL has declined any sort of penalty - pissing off the Canadiens to no end.

Said Max: "I am upset and disgusted that the league didn't think enough of (the hit) to suspend him," Pacioretty told told TSN's Bob McKenzie. "I'm not mad for myself, I'm mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it's okay, they won't be suspended, then other players will get hurt like I got hurt."

The hit drew criticism from Gary Lunn, the minister of state for sports, and others outside the league. Lunn called it unacceptable.

For the record Max Pacioretty is really really really angry at Zdeno Chara. If he was able to stand or walk or function he would kick his ass.

Also plaguing Hockey is the current state of players safety. We did an article last week regarding the concussions and life altering situations these brain injuries can cause. Well, commercial sponsors of the game are getting antsy.

"Air Canada released a letter Thursday where it threatened to withdraw its sponsorship following a violent headshot to Habs player Max Pacioretty by Zdeno Charo of the Boston Bruins.

All six Canadian teams and five U.S.-based teams charter Air Canada flights. In addition to charter contracts with teams, Air Canada has the naming rights in Toronto for the home of the Maple Leafs and NBA Raptors.

Air Canada may have been emboldened to act because of a groundswell of public concern resulting from a series of recent player concussions.

He said they also have more leverage than a standard sponsor like a beer company, which would be replaced by a rival in a heartbeat. Later Thursday, Habs (Canadiens)owner Geoff Molson issued a public letter expressing his, “frustration, disappointment and shock” over the issue — and he said NHL Commissioner Bettman had agreed to make safety a priority issue at next week’s league meetings."

See the hit for yourself. We've seen much much worse. But you can see in the slo-mo that Max was pushed into a partition and when he hit it literally broke his neck.

I Went to a Fight and a Hockey Game Broke Out

The NHL is taking a lot of shit lately for it's downward spiral into the 70's fight like no tomorrow culture it used to be.

Once, a lifetime ago, Wayne Gretzky took a lot of flak for decrying the fighting nature in hockey. Mario Lemieux did the same almost 20 years ago and he did again this week. He even said he would step away from the sport if things didn't change.

Since February 2, there have been (this is from an SI article - link below):
a) two goalie fights;
b) three bouts in the first four minutes of a Stars-Bruins game that also included a vicious blindside hit;
c) unbridled brawling between two Original 6 rivals, the Bruins and Canadiens, that included the son of the NHL's dean of discipline as a major combatant flailing away as his elbow pad flapped;
d) a match between the Penguins and Islanders featuring 346 penalty minutes that would have been better handled by a SWAT team than two referees and two linesmen...

That last one was funny as hell. But it leaves the question, what is happening?

For a while, hockey was too politically correct and in a way it does seem strange in this time and age that in the middle of a sporting event it's normal to just drop the gloves and punch someone's lights out. But we like it that way. We remember screaming for blood like a spectator at a Roman Gladiator match...and we are normal civilized people. Aren't we? And it's just the way hockey is..right?


Read more: HERE