Russian Hockey Team Members Die in Plane Crash
FOSTER: A plane carrying one of Russia's leading ice hockey teams, Lokomotiv Jaroslavl, have crashed on take-off, killing 43 people. The plane was on its way to the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Aviation officials say the plane hit a radio beacon at Russia's Jaroslavl Airport. It then fell to the ground, broke into several pieces and caught fire. The hockey team included players from many countries, including Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden. They were heading to Belarus for the season's first match. Russian TV broke into a newscast to show a statement given by the president of the Russian Hockey League to a shocked crowd at another match.</s>FOSTER: Now, Alex Thomas joins me to talk about this in the studio. Because this was a very big team, wasn't it -- Alex?</s>ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was. The biggest league for ice hockey in the world is the NHL in the United States. But many other players that we believe have died in this are former players from that league. We don't think any current NHL stars have perished in this accident. But the KHL is a fairly new professional ice hockey league in Russia, only set up three year sago. They did have a championship before that, which this team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, won three times. They're three time former Russian champions. In this new league, they finished runners-up in the first two seasons of it. And they were third last season. They had a new coach, who was a Canadian, a man called Brad McCrimmon. And he used to be the assistant coach at an NHL team, the Detroit Red Wings. So a top, top coach, very well known in ice hockey globally. So it shows the ambition they had. This certainly wasn't a small team, it was a major side. And they've been absolutely devastated by this tragedy.</s>FOSTER: I mean a tragedy on so many levels. But, because ice hockey is such a big deal in Russia, it seems to have affected so many lives.</s>THOMAS: Hugely popular in Russia. Ice hockey is a source of national pride. Under the old Soviet Union, it was really a way of them showing they could beat the best in the world. They collected loads and loads of Olympic Gold Medals in the Winter Olympics and world championships. Not quite so successful since becoming Russia again. But they are three time world champions over the last sort of 20 years or so. So ice hockey hugely popular. And as I mentioned before, many of their stars go on to play in -- in the NHL. And you've got the Winter Olympics coming up in Russia next time out, after Vancouver in 2010. It's in Sochi in 2014. So that's what's over the horizon.</s>THOMAS: Yes...</s>FOSTER: -- is the fact that they're in these teams?</s>THOMAS: We mentioned the new Canadian coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. If you look at the confirmed names that have died, the team's goalie, for example, Stefan Liv, won Olympic Gold with Sweden as recently as 2006 in the Torino Games. Another former NHL star, Slovakian international, Pavel Demitra, should be very well known to hockey followers in North America. And the list goes on. The International Ice Hockey Federation call it the darkest day in the history of the sport. But the tragedy goes beyond that, Max. Even the NHL itself, as we said, no current NHL players in this tragedy, but this was the statement released from their commissioner a bit earlier: "Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world, including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our league." So summing that up.</s>FOSTER: And certainly this story dominating conversation. But the sport continues. What else is going on?</s>THOMAS: Yes, there is. When you get to -- I might point out that the hockey season in Russia will be delayed because of this. But there's certainly a delay happening in the final grand slam tennis tournament of the season. Rain in New York playing havoc with a schedules. And organizers' desperate efforts to restart the action have met with protests from some of the top players. Defending champion, Rafael Nadal, world number four Andy Murray and 2003 winner, Andy Roddick, all complained to the tournament referee, Brian Early, that they were asked to get back on the courts when they were still dangerously wet. Only around a quarter of an hour's action was possible before rain yet again interrupted play. More on that in "WORLD SPORT" in just over an hour's time, including three rugby legends to talk us through who might win the World Cup, about to start in New Zealand on Friday.</s>FOSTER: It's miserable, isn't it, all that rain? Alex, thank you very much, indeed. A big court decision in Germany with big implications for weak Eurozone economies. In around six minutes, we'll speak to a young German and a young Greek about the bailouts. Their take on the give and take. And later in the show, a renewed push for recognition -- the sights and sounds of possible Palestinian statehood and the mood in New York just four days before a painful milestone.