Posted on 09/09/2011 12:05:53 PM PDT by nuconvert
Members of the Kontinental Hockey League's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl were flying to Minsk for their season opener when their plane crashed soon after takeoff on Wednesday. Forty-three passengers died, including nearly all of Lokomotiv's players and coaching staff, in one of the greatest tragedies to ever hit the hockey community.
On Thursday night, Dynamo Minsk players still skated out on the ice of their arena — not for a game, but for a remarkable "hockey funeral" for their fallen opponents, in front of stands packed with fans in mourning. This is as surreal, heartbreaking and moving a moment as we've seen on the rink:
(video at link)
...part of the tribute included Dynamo players firing pucks into empty nets in honor of each member of Lokomotiv who perished on Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
“firing pucks into empty nets”
That part sounds macabre. That’s more like a victory dance than a 21-gun salute
well, if you watch the video, they didn’t “fire” them into the net. They slowly skated to the net and gently tapped it in.
Hockey has it’s own unique rituals. Like tapping your sticks on the ice as a mark of respect for fans or your opponent.
I was heartened by the reaction of the fans in Russia. The General Manager of Lokomotiv held a press conference yesterday about his plans to move ahead with the season. Most fans reacted in shock and horror. “Have you no respect for the dead?” seemed to be a typical response.
Nice touch. A fitting tribute.
This might sound macabre, but each of the professional leagues in North America has a “catastrophe plan” in case this type of situation occurs here. They would conduct a draft similar to an expansion draft when a new franchise comes into the league, whereas each team gets to protect a certain number of players and the rest become available to be drafted to reestablish the ‘lost’ team.
This tragedy didn’t hit home for me until I saw this. How very sad.
Sad!
Is it a Belarus President on 2:24?
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