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Remembering 9/7/11 – Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Tribute

It was nine years ago today that one of the most devastating hockey tragedies of all-time occurred. At approximately 4:05pm Moscow Time on September 7th 2011, Yak-Service Flight 9633 carrying both players and coaching staff of KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ran off the runway before lifting off, struck a tower mast, caught fire and crashed a little over a mile from the airport.

Forty-three of the forty-five on board died at the crash site while two were rescued from the wreck. However, Alexander Galimov, died five days later in the hospital thus leaving only Alexander Sizov, the avionics flight engineer, as the sole survivor.

It will always be a truly dark day in hockey history for not only losing so many great hockey players but an entire team to such a disaster right as the KHL season was getting started.

Here is a great documentary on the incident and hockey in Lokomotiv:

A ceremony was held for the team in Minsk, Belarus as well:

Listed below is the full roster of players lost in the crash along with staff members:

Player Age Country Position
Vitaly Anikeyenko 24 Russia D
Mikhail Balandin 31 Russia D
Gennady Churilov 24 Russia C
Pavol Demitra 36 Slovakia C
Robert Dietrich 25 Germany D
Alexander Galimov 26 Russia LW
Marat Kalimulin 23 Russia D
Alexander Kalyanin 23 Russia RW
Andrei Kiryukhin 24 Russia RW
Nikita Klyukin 21 Russia C
Stefan Liv 30 Sweden G
Jan Marek 31 Czech Republic C
Sergei Ostapchuk 21 Belarus LW
Karel Rachůnek 32 Czech Republic D
Ruslan Salei 36 Belarus D
Maxim Shuvalov 18 Russia D
Kārlis Skrastiņš 37 Latvia D
Pavel Snurnitsyn 19 Russia F
Daniil Sobchenko 20 Russia C
Ivan Tkachenko 31 Russia LW
Pavel Trakhanov 33 Russia D
Yuri Urychev 20 Russia D
Josef Vašíček 30 Czech Republic C
Alexander Vasyunov 23 Russia LW
Alexander Vyukhin 38 Ukraine G
Artem Yarchuk 21 Russia LW
Name Age Country Title
Yuri Bakhvalov Physician/Massage Therapist
Aleksandr Belyaev Equipment Manager/Massage Therapist
Alexander Karpovtsev 41 Russia Assistant Coach
Igor Korolev 41 Russia/Canada Assistant Coach
Nikolai Krivonosov 31 Belarus Fitness Coach
Yevgeni Kunnov Massage Therapist
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov Russia Massage Therapist
Brad McCrimmon 52 Canada Head Coach
Vladimir Piskunov 52 Russia Administrator
Yevgeni Sidorov Russia Coach-Analyst
Andrei Zimin Team Doctor

And finally also a tribute to the crew that was lost in the crash:

Person Title
Nadezhda Maksumova Flight attendant
Vladimir Matyushin Flight engineer
Elena Sarmatova Flight attendant
Elena Shavina Flight attendant
Alexander Sizov Avionic engineer
Andrei Solomentsev Captain
Igor Zhivelov First Officer
Sergei Zhuravlev First Officer
Igor Burdetskiy

Igor Burdetskiy

Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & CEO at Hooked on Hockey Magazine
I grew up playing Ball and Roller Hockey day and night somewhat religiously throughout elementary and middle school. The two don't compare though when I lace up the skates and hit the ice. I live and breathe hockey beyond the perspective of "it's just a game" and I will gladly talk hockey for hours with anyone. Hockey is more than just a lifestyle, it's a culture of passionate people who make memories every time the puck is dropped. Hockey has not only helped me get through some of the hardest times in life but has created some of the best memories to date. Want to talk hockey with me? Shoot me an email: iburdetskiy@hookedonhockey.com and let's talk some hockey!
Igor Burdetskiy
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