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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname | "Loko", "Railwaymen" |
| City | Yaroslavl, Russia |
| League | KHL 2008–2011, 2012–present
|
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Tarasov |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Home arena | Arena 2000 (capacity: 9,070) |
| Colours | |
| Owner(s) | Russian Railways |
| President | Yuri Yakovlev |
| Head coach | Andrei Skabelka |
| Affiliate(s) | Buran Voronezh (VHL) Loko (MHL) |
| Website | hclokomotiv |
 | |
| 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 an airplane 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.[2]
HistoryEdit
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 lucrative 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 crashEdit
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.[3] Of the 45 passengers and crew on board, only flight engineer Alexander Sizov survived the crash[4]. 26-year-old Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov, who had been with the team since 2004, was pulled out of the crash alive, and was conscious and had burns to 80 percent of his body, but died five days later in a hospital in Moscow.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8][9]
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).[10]
2012–13 seasonEdit
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 Minnesota Wild Defenseman Dmitri Kulikov signed on to play with Lokomotiv during the NHL lockout.
Season-by-season recordEdit
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Top Scorer | Playoffs |
| 2008–09 | 56 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 111 | 174 | 111 | 1st, Kharlamov | Alexei Yashin (47 points: 21 G, 26 A; 56 GP) | Lost in Gagarin Cup Finals, 3–4 (Ak Bars Kazan) |
| 2009–10 | 56 | 26 | 17 | 4 | 96 | 163 | 132 | 3rd, Tarasov | Josef Vašíček (48 points: 21 G, 27 A; 56 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 3–4 (HC MVD) |
| 2010–11 | 54 | 33 | 14 | 1 | 108 | 202 | 143 | 1st, Tarasov | Pavol Demitra (60 points: 18 G, 42 A; 54 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 2–4 (Atlant Moscow Oblast) |
| 2011–12 | 22 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 42 | 68 | 47 | 3rd, Western | Oleg Yashin (15 points: 9 G, 6 A; 22 GP) | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2–3 (Dizel Penza) |
| 2012–13 | 52 | 24 | 18 | 0 | 92 | 131 | 121 | 2nd, Tarasov | Sergei Plotnikov (33 points: 15 G, 18 A; 55 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Severstal Cherepovets) |
| 2013–14 | 54 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 84 | 109 | 103 | 3rd, Tarasov | Sergei Plotnikov (35 points: 15 G, 20 A; 53 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Lev Praha) |
| 2014–15 | 60 | 32 | 19 | 9 | 97 | 155 | 143 | 3rd, Tarasov | Yegor Averin (37 points: 16 G, 21 A; 59 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Dynamo Moscow) |
| 2015–16 | 60 | 43 | 15 | 2 | 125 | 155 | 94 | 2nd, Tarasov | Daniil Apalkov (43 points: 16 G, 27 A; 59 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| 2016–17 | 60 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 110 | 163 | 130 | 3rd, Tarasov | Brandon Kozun (56 points: 23 G, 33 A; 59 GP) | Lost in Conference Finals, 0–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| 2017–18 | 56 | 35 | 18 | 3 | 99 | 148 | 129 | 2nd, Tarasov | Staffan Kronwall (35 points: 10 G, 25 A; 55 GP) | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| 2018–19 | 62 | 40 | 16 | 6 | 86 | 159 | 118 | 2nd, Tarasov | Brandon Kozun (41 points: 19 G, 22 A; 52 GP) | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1–4 (SKA Saint Petersburg) |
| 2019–20 | 62 | 34 | 23 | 5 | 73 | 170 | 151 | 2nd, Tarasov | Denis Alexeyev (37 points: 6 G, 31 A; 57 GP) | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Jokerit) |
| 2020–21 | 60 | 38 | 15 | 7 | 83 | 181 | 126 | 3rd, Tarasov | Pavel Kraskovsky (38 points: 17 G, 21 A; 56 GP) | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3–4 (CSKA Moscow) |
PlayersEdit
Current rosterEdit
Updated 21 August 2021.[11][12]
HonorsEdit
ChampionsEdit
Russian Superleague (3): 1997, 2002, 2003 Minsk Cup (1): 2017 LDZ Kauss (3): 2010, 2011, 2017 Junior tournament President Cup (Trinec) (1): 2016/2017
Runners-upEdit
Gagarin Cup (1): 2009
Gagarin Cup (3): 2010, 2014, 2017 Russian Superleague (1): 2008 Russian Superleague (2): 1999, 2005 IIHF Continental Cup (1): 2003 Spengler Cup (1): 2003
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "Canadian coach McCrimmon among 43 dead in Russian plane crash". tsn.ca. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- ^ Grigory Sysoey (10 September 2011). "Russia's Lokomotiv ice hockey team to miss season after air disaster". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Crash Update". Moscow Times. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Morgunov, Sergei (7 September 2011). Первые фото с места крушения Як-42 под Ярославлем. Lifenews.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Lokomotiv will not play this season". FOX Sports. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ На совещании в Кремле решили: "Локомотив" с декабря начнёт играть в ВХЛ. Sovetsky Sport (in Russian). 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Plane Crash Wipes Out Elite Russian Hockey Team". TotalNews. 7 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- ^ "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl current roster" (in Russian). Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team roster". 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
External linksEdit
- Official website (in Russian)