| Full name |
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
|
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Loko", "Railwaymen" |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Based In | Yaroslavl, Russia |
| Arena | Arena 2000 (Capacity: 10,000) |
| League |
KHL 2008 – 2011
|
| Division | Tarasov |
| Conference | Western |
| Team Colors | |
| Owner(s) | Russian Railways |
| President | Yuri Yakovlev |
| GM | Yuri Lukin |
| Head Coach | Petr Vorobiev |
| Affiliates | Loko (MHL) |
| Website | HCLokomotiv.ru |
Hockey Club Lokomotiv (Russian: ХК Локомотив, English: HC Locomotive), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Yaroslavl. The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator.
On 7 September 2011, a plane carrying the team to a Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) game in Minsk crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all of the team's roster (plus four players from the Loko MHL junior squad) and coaching staff except for two who were not on the flight, forward Maxim Zyuzyakin and goaltending coach Jorma Valtonen.[1] The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the 2011–12 KHL season.[2] The club will instead participate in the 2011–12 season of the Russian Major League (VHL), the second top ice hockey league in Russia after the KHL, in December 2011 and will automatically be qualified for the VHL playoffs.[3] Also, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's squad for the 2012–13 KHL season will automatically be qualified for the KHL playoffs that season, and the club may request allowance to use more than six non-Russian players in the KHL squad.[4]
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Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was founded in 1959, and has been formerly known as HC YMZ Yaroslavl, Trud Yaroslavl, Motor Yaroslavl and Torpedo Yaroslavl. The team plays their home games in the Lokomotiv Arena 2000, which provides a capacity for 9,046 persons. From 1959 to 2001, the team played in the Avtodizel Arena. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's team colors are red, white and blue. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won three Russian championships, in 1997, 2002 and 2003.
The team has been known previously by several different names:
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 during the 1990s and won their first league championship in 1997 under coach Petr Vorobev. 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 lucrative contract offer from rival Ak Bars Kazan. Lokomotiv have not been able to replicate their success since that time, but remain a perennial contender in the Russian Superleague (RSL).
On 7 September 2011,[5] The airplane caught fire and crashed shortly after take-off, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Tunoshna Airport. Preliminary reports said that all 45 passengers and crew on board had been killed.[6] However later reports stated one player from Lokomotiv, plus a flight engineer,Alexander Sizov had survived the initial crash. Alexander Galimov, a 26-year-old forward who had been with the team since 2004, was conscious and had burns to 90 percent of his body, but died five days later in a hospital in Moscow. 35 bodies have been recovered thus far.[7]
Prior to the crash, the team played nine pre-season games, finishing with a 7–2 record. On September 3, the players played their last game, at home against Torpedo, winning 5–2. Alexander Galimov, who had initially survived the crash but later died of his injuries, scored the last goal of that game, sealing the win for Lokomotiv with an empty net goal.
In the aftermaths of the crash, KHL president Alexander Medvedev announced that a disaster draft will be held to allow Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to ice a team for the 2011-2012 season.[8] However, on September 10, 2011, the team announced its intention not to participate in the 2011-2012 KHL season, opting to play in the Russian Major League for one season before returning to the KHL.[9] Former coach Petr Vorobiev has returned to the team as its head coach.
This is the second plane accident in Russia involving a hockey team; in 1950, the entire VVS Moscow team were killed in an air disaster near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).[10]
Russian Open Championship winner (3): 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03
Runners-up of KHL (2): 2007–08, 2008–09
Bronze medal winner of Russian Open Championship and KHL (4): 1997–98, 1998–99, 2004–2005, 2010–11
Runners-up of IIHF Continental Cup : 2003
Bronze medal of Spengler Cup: 2003
| Season | Regular season | Play-off | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Place in division |
Place in Conference |
Place in League |
G | W | WO | LO | L | Pts | GF | GA | G | W | L | GF | GA | Result | |
| 2008–09 | Kharlamov Division |
1 | n/a | 3 | 56 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 111 | 175 | 111 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 57 | 33 | Won in Last 16, 3–1 (HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk) Won in Quarterfinals, 3–0 (HC Spartak Moscow) Won in Semifinals, 4–1 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Lost in Final, 3–4 (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| 2009–10 | Tarasov Division |
3 | 5 | 7 | 56 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 96 | 163 | 132 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 54 | 37 | Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 3–1 (Atlant Moscow Oblast) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4–2 (HC Spartak Moscow) Lost in Conference Final, 3–4 (HC MVD) |
| 2010–11 | Tarasov Division |
1 | 1 | 3 | 54 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 108 | 202 | 143 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 62 | Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4–3 (HC Dinamo Minsk) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4–1 (Dinamo Riga) Lost in Conference Final, 2–4 (Atlant Moscow Oblast) |
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