The amount of tragedy that takes place in the United States is increasing everyday, however, what happened in Yaroslavl, Russia today, shocked the whole world including the Detroit Red Wings.

A plane carrying the Russian hockey team Lokomotiv, which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League, crashed into the ground today, killing at least 43 people on board, with most being players on the hockey squad.

The complete story can be found right here.  This is a tragic event which took the lives of many, including former NHL player Pavol Demitra, who I remember always playing against the Wings since I was a young kid.

The Wings lost two pieces of last year’s squad. The first one was defenseman Ruslan Salei  who appeared in 75 games for the Red Wings last season. He had two goals and eight assists. He played four teams over his entire NHL career. He was 36 years old.

The other loss from the Red Wings family from last year’s team was former assistant coach Brad McCrimmon.  He coached last year with the Wings and had just taken the KHL job in May. He coached with four teams in his coaching career. He was also a player in the NHL, playing for six different teams, including the Detroit Red Wings. He was 52 years of age.

There was a third loss for the Detroit Red Wings in the crash. Prospect goalie Stefan Liv, who played in Sweden for most of his career. However, he did play with the Grand Rapid Griffins during the 2006-2007 season. He was drafted by Detroit in the 4th round of the 2000 draft. He was 30 years old.

Although these three were a part of the Detroit Red Wings family at one time or another in their careers, my condolences go out to all the victims in this sad, terrible, horrible, and unbelievable tragedy. This should open a lot of eyes and help people make sure that people don’t take life for granted.

Here is a video from Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock and captain Nick Lidstrom on the event.