The devastating plane crash that happened in Central Russia is hitting home for many hockey fans in America.
Pavol Demitra, who scored over 300 goals in 847 career NHL games from 1993-2010, was on the plane that crashed and killed 36 people in Central Russia, according to reports.
He was 36 years old.
Demitra, who was drafted 227th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 1993, was a three-time All-Star. One of his best years came in the 2002-03 season when he notched 36 goals and 57 assists for a career-high 93 points in 78 games for the Blues. Two years earlier, he potted a career-high 37 goals in St. Louis. He also took home the Lady Byng Trophy in 2000 after recording just eight penalty minutes.
The Slovak competed for his country in the following events:
1996 World Championships
1996 World Cup
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
2003 World Championships (bronze medal)
2004 World Championship
2004 World Cup
2005 World Championships
2006 Winter Olympics in Torino
2007 World Championships
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
2011 World Championships
As for other NHL ties, NHL.com reports that the team's head coach, Brad McCrimmon, defensemen Karel Rachunek, Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins, as well as forwards Josef Vasicek and Alexander Vasyunov were all on board. Each person spent time in the NHL before joining Lokomotiv.
