Many NHL players lost friends and former teammates when a plane crashed in central Russia a week ago. Pavel Datsyuk, one of those NHL players, will honor a victim of the crash by changing his jersey number during the preseason.
For training camp and the eight preseason games, Datsyuk will wear No. 24 in honor of his former teammate Ruslan Salei, the Detroit Red Wings' website reports.
"I think everybody misses Ruslan Salei," Datsyuk said. "It's an honor to wear his preseason jersey. I have only good memories when I remember Ruslan. I'm very happy to put No. 24 on my jersey for the preseason."
According to the Red Wings site, Datsyuk and Salei sat next to each other on team flights and bus rides.
Salei played for the Red Wings in 2010-11, appearing in 75 games and totaling 10 points.
