Wednesday’s crash claimed the lives of 43 people, including 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl club.
“It’s horrible,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said after Thursday’s captain’s practice at Ristuccia Arena. “It’s just a tragedy that shook up the whole world and hockey world especially. We all feel bad about the players’ families and it’s something that is just hard to swallow.”
Chara had ties to several of the victims, including Lokomotiv head coach and former Bruin Brad McCrimmon and fellow Slovakian Pavol Demitra. McCrimmon was an assistant coach with the Islanders during Chara’s first two professional seasons, which the defenseman split between New York and the AHL. Chara and Demitra grew up in the same region of Slovakia and played together on the national team, which Demitra captained.
“I know Pav [Demitra] very well obviously growing up with him and being my neighbor,” Chara said. “And then other guys I played with or obviously a coach I had, Brad, in the Islanders system. When you get to know players as persons, it’s just devastating.”
Chara was born in Trencin, not far from Demitra’s hometown of Dubnica, and the two also played together in both the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games. Demitra put up 304-464-768 totals in 847 games in the NHL over 16 seasons in the NHL with Ottawa, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Vancouver, but Chara will remember his friend much more for the man he was away from the rink.
“Pavol was a guy who was always easy going, was always friendly with everybody and never really had conflict with anybody,” Chara said. “He was really very favored and a popular guy between other guys, and obviously we all know he was an extremely talented player.”
Chara was particularly impressed by Demitra’s dedication to his family, as he leaves behind his wife, Maja, and two children, Lucas and Zara. Demitra’s desire to raise his children in his native Slovakia was a major reason he chose to sign in the KHL and stay closer to home over remaining in the NHL last season.
“People probably don’t know dedicated a dad he was,” Chara said. “He was always spending time with his kids and family, and I think that speaks for itself, too. He had offers from the NHL, but he chose to return back home and be there for his kids and his wife when it was time for them to be going to school, and they chose the school system in Slovakia. It’s a very, very sad time right now.”
