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International Ice Hockey Federation President René Fasel called yesterday the darkest day in the history of the sport.

Despite the substantial air travel of professional hockey teams, our sport has been spared from tragic traffic accidents. But only until now. This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from ten nations.

The staff of this website agrees, and before we recount the news, let us state our deep sadness at the loss of life, including almost the entire Lokomotiv KHL hockey club, their coaches and the plane’s crew, when their charter plane crashed just two kilometers after takeoff from Yaroslavl, Russia. Survivors were a crew member and player Alexander Galimov, who is reportedly in critical condition with burns over 80 percent of his body.

It was also (almost unbelievably) reported later in the day that the mother of Lokomotiv player Sergei Ostapchuk died of a heart attack when she heard the news.

The Russian jet was on its way to Belarus. Many reports stated that the team wanted to travel together to celebrate the start of a new KHL season.

Of course they did. Hockey is a deeply fraternal, as well as international, sport. Most true fans can tell you that this feeling transfers from the teams all over the world who play to those of us in hockey-playing countries who invest such emotion, support and pride in our local, regional and national teams.

On board were Olympic team captains and several previous NHL competitors,  journeymen and Stanley Cup winners, guys who came back to the KHL after lengthy careers in the U.S., and teenaged prospects who may have ended up our brightest stars and fan favorites (or gleefully disliked rivals) here in a year or two. NHL vets on board were Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Karel Rachunek, Josef Vasicek, Alexander Karpovtsev, Igor Korolev and all-star Pavol Demitra.  Lokomotiv’s new head coach, Brad McCrimmon, played for the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers, and was captain of the Calgary Flames when they won the 1989 Stanley Cup.

Luke Decock covers the Carolina Hurricanes for the Charlotte Observer, including Vasicek when he was with the team for several years, including the 2006 Stanley Cup-winning season:

Vasicek, who died in the plane crash Wednesday that claimed his entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team only five days short of his 31st birthday, was unfailingly cheerful, a good guy by the standards of the game of hockey and the game of life.

When I went to Europe during the lockout, Vasicek told me to swing by Havlickuv Brod if I made it to the Czech Republic. I never got that far. I figured I’d get there eventually, and Big Joe would be waiting there when I did. I cannot comprehend that he won’t be.

When hockey loses any of its own, it somehow feels like we all lose them together. It’s that kind of sport. Maybe it’s that community spirit that can makes its rivalries so crazy and its bonds so deep.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a news release:

Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world — including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our League.

Again, our deepest condolences to the families, friends and hometown fans of the Lokomotiv of the Kontinental Hockey League. What happened to your guys yesterday was a crying shame.

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Image: IIHF