Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Hockey Club Lokomotiv (Russian: ХК Локомотив, English: Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
CityYaroslavl, Russia
LeagueKHL
2008–2011, 2012–present
ConferenceWestern
DivisionTarasov
Founded1959
Home arenaArena 2000
(capacity: 8,905)
Colours     
Owner(s)Russian Railways
PresidentYuri Yakovlev
Head coachIgor Nikitin
CaptainSergei Andronov
AffiliatesMolot-Prikamye Perm (VHL)
Loko (MHL)
Websitehclokomotiv.ru
KHL-Uniform-LOKO
Franchise history
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2000–present
Torpedo Yaroslavl 1965–2000
Motor Yaroslavl 1964–1965
Trud Yaroslavl 1963–1964
YaMZ Yaroslavl 1959–1963
Current season

On 7 September 2011, nearly the entire team perished in a plane crash. The team's flight to a game in Minsk crashed during takeoff, killing all of the team's roster (except forward Maxim Zyuzyakin, who was not on the flight), all coaching staff (except goaltending coach Jorma Valtonen, not on the flight) and four players from the Loko 9 juniors squad of the Minor Hockey League (MHL).[1] The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the 2011–12 KHL season.

History

The team has been known previously by several different names:

  • YaMZ Yaroslavl (1959–1963)
  • Trud Yaroslavl (1963–1964)
  • Motor Yaroslavl (1964–1965)
  • Torpedo Yaroslavl (1965–2000)
  • Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (2000–present)

The team generally played in the Second League of the Class "A" group during the Soviet era, being promoted to the First League of Class "A" for the 1983–84 season. Known as Torpedo Yaroslavl at that time, the team enjoyed moderate success under head coach Sergei Alekseyevich Nikolaev. Never a powerful club during the Soviet era, the team became a consistent winner with the creation of the Russian Superleague (RSL) following the collapse of the Soviet Union, winning its first RSL championship in 1997 under coach Petr Vorobiev. The club moved from Avtodizel Arena to the new Arena 2000 early in the 2001–02 season, and won consecutive league championships in 2002 and 2003 under Czech head coach Vladimír Vujtek, Sr. Vujtek left the club after the 2002–03 season for a contract offer from rival Ak Bars Kazan. Lokomotiv has not been able to replicate its success since that time, but has remained a perennial contender in the RSL and then the later KHL.

2011 plane crash

On 7 September 2011, the Lokomotiv club was to travel to Minsk for its first game of the 2011–12 KHL season when the airplane that was carrying the team crashed following a botched take-off from Tunoshna Airport.[2] Of the 45 passengers and crew on board, only flight engineer Alexander Sizov survived the crash.[3] 26-year-old Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov, who had been with the team since 2004, was pulled out of the crash alive and conscious, but had burns to 80 percent of his body and died five days later in a hospital in Moscow.[4]

Prior to the crash, the team played nine pre-season games, finishing with a 7–2 record. On 3 September 2011, in Lokomotiv's last pre-season game, at home against Torpedo, Galimov scored the team's last pre-crash goal in a 5–2 victory.

In the aftermath of the crash, KHL president Alexander Medvedev announced that a disaster draft would be held to allow Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to ice a team for the 2011–12 season.[5] However, on 10 September 2011, the team announced its intention not to participate in the 2011–2012 KHL season, opting to play in the Supreme Hockey League (VHL) for one season before returning to the KHL.[6] Former coach Petr Vorobiev returned to the team as its head coach for the VHL season. Also, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's squad for the following season would automatically be qualified for the KHL playoffs, and the club could request allowance to use more than six non-Russian players in the KHL squad.[7][8]

The accident was the second plane crash in Russia involving a hockey team; in 1950, the entire VVS Moscow team was killed in an air disaster near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).[9]

2012–13 season

On 9 April 2012, Tom Rowe, formerly an assistant coach with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, signed on as the team's new head coach.

For the 2012–13 KHL season, Lokomotiv added former NHL players Viktor Kozlov, Niklas Hagman, Staffan Kronwall, Curtis Sanford, Sami Lepistö and Vitaly Vishnevskiy. Vishnevskiy previously played for the club from 2008 to 2010. Current NHL Defenseman Dmitri Kulikov signed on to play with Lokomotiv during the NHL lockout.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

SeasonGPWLOTLPtsGFGAFinishTop ScorerPlayoffs
2008–0956321331111741111st, KharlamovAlexei Yashin (47 points: 21 G, 26 A; 56 GP)Lost in Gagarin Cup Finals, 3–4 (Ak Bars Kazan)
2009–105626174961631323rd, TarasovJosef Vašíček (48 points: 21 G, 27 A; 56 GP)Lost in Conference Finals, 3–4 (HC MVD)
2010–1154331411082021431st, TarasovPavol Demitra (60 points: 18 G, 42 A; 54 GP)Lost in Conference Finals, 2–4 (Atlant Moscow Oblast)
2011–122213614268473rd, WesternOleg Yashin (15 points: 9 G, 6 A; 22 GP)Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2–3 (Dizel Penza)
2012–135224180921311212nd, TarasovSergei Plotnikov (33 points: 15 G, 18 A; 55 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Severstal Cherepovets)
2013–145428215841091033rd, TarasovSergei Plotnikov (35 points: 15 G, 20 A; 53 GP)Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Lev Praha)
2014–156032199971551433rd, TarasovYegor Averin (37 points: 16 G, 21 A; 59 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Dynamo Moscow)
2015–166043152125155942nd, TarasovDaniil Apalkov (43 points: 16 G, 27 A; 59 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2016–1760361861101631303rd, TarasovBrandon Kozun (56 points: 23 G, 33 A; 59 GP)Lost in Conference Finals, 0–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2017–185635183991481292nd, TarasovStaffan Kronwall (35 points: 10 G, 25 A; 55 GP)Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2018–196240166861591182nd, TarasovBrandon Kozun (41 points: 19 G, 22 A; 52 GP)Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg)
2019–206234235731701512nd, TarasovDenis Alexeyev (37 points: 6 G, 31 A; 57 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Jokerit)
2020–216038157831811263rd, TarasovPavel Kraskovsky (38 points: 17 G, 21 A; 56 GP)Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3–4 (CSKA Moscow)
2021–224723159551131034th, TarasovReid Boucher (27 points: 12 G, 15 A; 46 GP)Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (CSKA Moscow)
2022–2368411710921641222nd, TarasovMaxim Shalunov (42 points: 29 G, 13 A; 62 GP)Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3–4 (CSKA Moscow)

Players

Current roster

Updated 2 September 2023.[10][11]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
91 Russia Denis Alexeyev C R 26 2017 Gubkin, Russia
11 Russia Sergei Andronov (C) RW L 34 2022 Penza, Russian SFSR
29 Russia Egor Averin RW L 34 2012 Omsk, Russian SFSR
5 Russia Alexei Bereglazov D L 29 2023 Magnitogorsk, Russia
72 Russia Maxim Beryozkin RW R 22 2019 Chita, Russia
60 Russia Ivan Bocharov G L 28 2022 Moscow, Russia
50 Russia Daniil But LW R 18 2022 Yaroslavl, Russia
27 Russia Roman Bychkov D L 22 2022 Yaroslavl, Russia
82 Russia Ivan Chekhovich LW L 24 2022 Yekaterinburg, Russia
73 Russia Nikita Cherepanov D L 27 2016 Yaroslavl, Russia
28 Slovakia Martin Gernat D L 30 2023 Košice, Slovakia
92 Russia Daniil Isayev G L 23 2018 Yaroslavl, Russia
10 Russia Georgi Ivanov C L 25 2017 Yaroslavl, Russia
16 Russia Artur Kayumov LW L 25 2016 Podgorny, Russia
25 Russia Alexei Kozhevnikov D L 21 2022 Chita, Russia
63 Russia Pavel Kraskovsky (A) C L 27 2013 Yaroslavl, Russia
32 Russia Yaroslav Likhachyov LW R 22 2022 Yaroslavl, Russia
30 Russia Sergei Murashov G R 19 2022 Yaroslavl, Russia
13 Russia Stepan Nikulin LW R 22 2021 Yaroslavl, Russia
90 Russia Alexander Polunin LW R 26 2021 Moscow, Russia
87 Russia Rushan Rafikov (A) D L 28 2015 Saratov, Russia
99 Russia Andrei Sergeyev D R 32 2022 Simferopol , Ukrainian SSR
78 Russia Maxim Shalunov C L 30 2021 Chelyabinsk, Russia
26 Russia Dmitri Simashev D L 18 2022 Kostroma, Russia
89 Russia Daniil Tesanov C R 22 2020 Yaroslavl, Russia
28 Russia Mikhail Varnakov RW L 38 2022 Nizhny Novgorod, Russian SFSR
97 Russia Alexander Volkov C L 20 2022 Lyubertsy, Russia
4 Russia Alexander Yelesin (A) D R 27 2021 Yaroslavl, Russia

Honors

Champions

1st place, gold medalist(s) Russian Superleague (3): 1997, 2002, 2003
1st place, gold medalist(s) Minsk Cup (1): 2017
1st place, gold medalist(s) Longi Kahoo Cup (3): 2010, 2011, 2017
1st place, gold medalist(s) Junior tournament President Cup (Trinec) (1): 2016/2017

Runners-up

2nd place, silver medalist(s) Gagarin Cup (1): 2009
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Gagarin Cup (3): 2010, 2014, 2017
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Russian Superleague (1): 2008
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Russian Superleague (2): 1999, 2005
2nd place, silver medalist(s) IIHF Continental Cup (1): 2003
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Spengler Cup (1): 2003

References

  1. "Canadian coach McCrimmon among 43 dead in Russian plane crash". tsn.ca. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  2. Barry, Ellen (7 September 2011). "Crash Wipes Out Elite Russian Hockey Team, Killing Several Veterans of the N.H.L."]". New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  3. "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Crash Update". Moscow Times. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  4. Morgunov, Sergei (7 September 2011). Первые фото с места крушения Як-42 под Ярославлем. Lifenews.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  5. 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.
  6. "Lokomotiv will not play this season". FOX Sports. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  7. На совещании в Кремле решили: "Локомотив" с декабря начнёт играть в ВХЛ. Sovetsky Sport (in Russian). 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  8. "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.
  9. "Plane Crash Wipes Out Elite Russian Hockey Team". TotalNews. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  10. "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl current roster" (in Russian). Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  11. "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team roster". 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
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