2011–12 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl season

The 2011–12 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl season was the franchise's 52nd season of play in professional ice hockey in Russia. It was supposed to be its fourth season in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The season was scheduled to start on 8 September 2011. However, on 7 September, while traveling to their season opener, the team's plane crashed, killing 44 people, including 25 roster players, and 11 members of the team staff. Alexander Galimov survived the initial impact of the crash with severe injuries, but died on 12 September. Another roster player, Maxim Zyuzyakin, did not travel with the team on the plane. As a consequence, the league cancelled the 7 September Opening Cup game between Salavat Yulaev and Atlant already in progress, postponing the opening of the KHL season until 12 September.

The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the 2011–12 KHL season. Instead, the club participated in the 2011–12 season of the Russian Major League (VHL), the second top ice hockey league in Russia after the KHL, starting in December 2011, and was eligible for the VHL playoffs. Also, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's squad for the 2012–13 KHL season would automatically be qualified for the KHL playoffs that season, and the club could request allowance to use more than six non-Russian players in the KHL squad.[1][2]

Off-season

Lokomotiv lost in the 2011 KHL Western Conference Finals 4–2 to Atlant. Following this playoff disappointment, eleven players (most notably former NHLers Daniel Tjärnqvist and Alexander Korolyuk) left the team, and nine players were added to the roster for the upcoming 2011–12 KHL season. The players set to make their debut with the team notably included former NHLers Ruslan Salei and Kārlis Skrastiņš. Also set to make their coaching debuts were former NHLers Brad McCrimmon and Igor Korolev.

Pre-season

The team played nine pre-season games, finishing with a 7–2 record, and won their second straight Latvian Railways Cup ( 23–27 August), a pre-season KHL tournament. On 3 September, the players played their final game, at home against Torpedo, winning 5–2. Alexander Galimov, the final victim of the crash, scored the last goal of that game, sealing the win for Lokomotiv with an empty net goal.

2011 pre-season game log: 7–2–0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOT/SODecisionReference
110 August (in Visp, Switzerland)Lokomotiv7 – 2EHC VispLiv[3]
212 August (in Leukerbad, Switzerland)Lokomotiv3 – 4SC BernLiv[4]
313 August (in Leukerbad, Switzerland)Lokomotiv5 – 1HC Ambrì-PiottaVyukhin[5]
423 August (in Riga, Latvia)Lokomotiv2 – 3NeftekhimikSOVyukhin[6]
524 August (in Riga, Latvia)Lokomotiv1 – 0AtlantLiv[7]
626 August (in Riga, Latvia)Lokomotiv3 – 0Dinamo MinskLiv[8]
727 August (in Riga, Latvia)Lokomotiv3 – 0NeftekhimikLiv[9]
81 SeptemberSeverstal3 – 5LokomotivVyukhin[10]
93 SeptemberTorpedo2 – 5LokomotivLiv[11]

Crash
Main article: 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash

All players and most of the team staff were killed on 7 September 2011 when the Yak-Service Yak-42 that was chartered by the team crashed on takeoff from Tunoshna Airport in Yaroslavl, into the Volga River. Alexander Galimov survived the crash, but died five days later of his injuries.[12] Goalie coach Jorma Valtonen and forward Maxim Zyuzyakin were not on the flight.

Rebuilding the team

It was announced by KHL president Alexander Medvedev that a disaster draft would be conducted to assemble a new team for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Every other team in the league would select up to three players for the pool of 40–45 players for Lokomotiv to select in the disaster draft, which selected up to 14 players, as five players were promoted from Lokomotiv's youth team, and forward Maxim Zyuzyakin, who did not travel with the team, formed the core of the roster before the start of the disaster draft.[13] The drafted players will continue to receive salaries from their respective teams.[14] Lokomotiv's former coach Petr Vorobiev was hired as the new head coach. On 10 September, at the team's public memorial service, team president Yuri Yakovlev announced that Lokomotiv would not participate in the 2011–12 KHL season.

Instead, the club participated in the 2011–12 season of the Russian Major League (VHL), the second top ice hockey league in Russia after the KHL. In October 2011, the team announced that its first game in the VHL would take place on 12 December 2011 at home ice. Players between 17 and 22 years old under contract to KHL and VHL teams were made available for Lokomotiv to build a roster.

Schedule and results

Regular season
2011–12 game log: 13–6–3 (home: 9–1–2; road: 4–5–1)
December: 3–2–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–1–0)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
112Neftyanik Almetyevsk5–11–0–0
214Ariada-Akpars Volzhsk2–02–0–0
320@ Molot-Prikamye Perm2–3 OT2–0–1
422@ Izhstal Izhevsk4–13–0–1
528HC Donbass3–4 OT3–0–2
January: 4–3–1 (home: 3–0–1; road: 1–3–0)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
66Titan Klin4–24–0–2
710@ Rubin Tyumen2–44–1–2
812@ Zauralie Kurgan1–34–2–2
914@ Mechel Chelyabinsk3–44–3–2
1016@ Yuzhny Ural Orsk3–25–3–2
1125Lada Togliatti3–16–3–2
1227Kristall Saratov4–07–3–2
1329Dizel Penza3–4 SO7–3–3
February: 6–3–0 (home: 4–0–0; road: 2–3–0)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
143HC Ryazan4–08–3–3
155Dynamo Tver6–39–3–3
1612@ Kazzinc-Torpedo4–110–3–3
1714@ Ermak Angarsk2–410–4–3
1817@ Sokol Krasnoyarsk3–211–4–3
1922HC VMF St. Petersburg3–212–4–3
2024HC Sarov4–013–4–3
2127@ Sputnik Nizhny Tagil1–213–5–3
2229@ Toros Neftekamsk2–413–6–3

Playoffs
2012 VHL playoffs: 5–5
Quarterfinals: 3–2
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
16HC VMF0–20–1
27HC VMF4–11–1
310@ HC VMF4–32–1
411@ HC VMF2–3 (OT)2–2
514HC VMF2–13–2
Semifinals: 2–3
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
118@ Dizel Penza3–2 (OT)1–0
219@ Dizel Penza2–1 (OT)1–1
322Dizel Penza2–02–1
423Dizel Penza1–22–2
526@ Dizel Penza1–32–3

Team at the time of crash

Remembered 7 September 2011.[15]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
57 Russia Vitaly Anikeyenko D R 24 2005 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
39 Russia Mikhail Balandin D L 31 2011 Lipetsk, Russian SFSR
21 Russia Gennady Churilov C L 24 2005 Magnitogorsk, Russian SFSR
38 Slovakia Pavol Demitra C L 36 2010 Dubnica nad Váhom, Czechoslovakia
20 Germany Robert Dietrich D L 25 2011 Ordzhonikidze, Ukrainian SSR
11 Russia Alexander Galimov RW L 26 2004 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
74 Russia Marat Kalimulin D R 23 2010 Togliatti, Russian SFSR
28 Russia Alexander Kalyanin RW L 23 2008 Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR
83 Russia Andrei Kiryukhin RW L 24 2005 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
23 Russia Nikita Klyukin C L 21 2005 Rybinsk, Russian SFSR
1 Sweden Stefan Liv G L 30 2011 Gdynia, Poland
15 Czech Republic Jan Marek C R 31 2011 Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia
32 Russia Sergei Ostapchuk LW R 21 2007 Novopolotsk, Byelorussian SSR
4 Czech Republic Karel Rachůnek (C) D R 32 2010 Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia
24 Belarus Ruslan Salei D L 36 2011 Minsk, Byelorussian SSR
52 Russia Maxim Shuvalov D L 18 2010 Rybinsk, Russia
37 Latvia Kārlis Skrastiņš D R 37 2011 Riga, Latvia
69 Russia Pavel Snurnitsyn F L 19 2009 Yaroslavl, Russia
13 Russia Daniil Sobchenko C L 20 2007 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
17 Russia Ivan Tkachenko (A) LW L 31 2001 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
3 Russia Pavel Trakhanov D L 33 2011 Moscow, Russian SFSR
81 Russia Yuri Urychev D R 20 2009 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
63 Czech Republic Josef Vasicek (A) C L 30 2008 Havlíčkův Brod, Czechoslovakia
18 Russia Alexander Vasyunov LW R 23 2011 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
35 Ukraine Alexander Vyukhin G L 38 2010 Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR
72 Russia Artem Yarchuk LW L 21 2010 Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR
61 Russia Maxim Zyuzyakin* F R 20 2008 Novokuznetsk, Russian SFSR

Staff
Person Age Country Title
Brad McCrimmon[16] 52 Canada Head coach
Alexander Karpovtsev[17] 41 Russia Assistant coach
Igor Korolev[17] 41 Russia/Canada Assistant coach
Jorma Valtonen* 64 Finland Goalie coach
Yuri Bakhvalov - - physician/massage therapist[18]
Aleksandr Belyayev - - Equipment manager/massage therapist
Nikolai Krivonosov 31 Belarus Fitness coach
Yevgeni Kunnov - - Massage therapist
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov - - Massage therapist
Vladimir Piskunov 52 Russia Administrator
Yevgeni Sidorov - - Coach-analyst
Andrei Zimin - - Team doctor
  • Zyuzyakin and Valtonen were the only club members not aboard the plane.

References
  1. На совещании в Кремле решили: "Локомотив" с декабря начнёт играть в ВХЛ. Sovetsky Sport (in Russian). 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. "KHL's new Lokomotiv won't play this season". Red Light. 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  4. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  5. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  6. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  7. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  8. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  9. "ПОБЕДА ИМЕНИ ВРАТАРЯ". Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  10. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  11. "Хоккейный Клуб "Локомотив" (Ярославль)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  12. СПИСОК экипажа и пассажиров, находившихся на борту воздушного судна Як-42 (Press release) (in Russian). Ministry of Emergency Situations. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  13. Leonard, Peter (8 September 2011). "KHL delays games, but season will go on for Lokomotiv". nationalpost.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  14. KHL's bold plans to keep Lokomotiv running after tragedy - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
  15. "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Disaster Victims" (in Russian). hclokomotiv.ru. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  16. St. James, Helene (7 September 2011). "Ex-Red Wings assistant Brad McCrimmon killed in Russian crash". Detroit Free-Press. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  17. "Former Leafs Karpovtsev, Korolev Killed In Russian Plane Crash". NHL. 7 September 2011.
  18. ftp://213.150.87.138/Arhiv/2010/N43/PDF/slj_2710_28.pdf%5B%5D
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