Love for Lokomotiv

Eurohockey.com

HARTFORD,CT- The shock of the plane crash that took the lives of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv team on September 7th still reverberates throughout the hockey community.

The NHL and AHL have taken big steps to deal with the tragedy that cut across so many time zones and has spurred the creation of the Love for Lokomotiv program.

The purchase of red silicone memory wristbands with the inscription with the phrase "Love for Lokomotiv" and the red being the primary color of the team uniform and universal color of love. 100% of the proceeds go to the wives and girlfriends of those who perished. The Hartford chapter raised $2,230 selling the bracelets at $10 apiece and registering each donor for a chance to win an autographed stick and Lokomotiv jersey.

At the AHL Connecticut Whale games this past weekend the table was setup on the main concourse and much awareness was done and wrist bands sold.

"Hockey is such a small community and while it happened in another country, your heart goes out to those people its such a terrible thing," commented Kelly Talbot one of the organizers for the program.



Connecticut Whale Lokomotiv group

They gave an autographed puck by Connecticut Whale players for the first 40 people who made the donation in addition to memory bracelet. 

"We have gone through 80 pucks so far, the response has been excellent. Its feels very good to help those people out," remarked Talbot.   

The origins of the charity came from current Whale defenseman Wade Redden and his wife Danica shortly after the crash.

"Right after it happened Reds (Redden) came in and they were selling red glass beade and then the wives and girlfriends found out about the program being done by the NHL and AHL and Kelly and Danica took it upon themselves and have done a great job," remarked goaltender Cam Talbot of his wife's work.

Talbot offered a very sobering observation.

"If something like that were to ever happen around here you would hope we would to see our wives and girlfriends taken care of."

Russian teammate Pavel Valentenko's reaction to the tragic experience in training camp left a big impression on Talbot and has been helpful with the program.

"I talked to him in training camp and he knew a couple of the guys and you could see how it affected him, but he battled through..it's an awful thing . It's great to see everybody in the league doing this and making a difference,".

Redden, is a Saskatchewan native who knew Lokomotiv head coach and Saskatchewan native Brad McCrimmon who perished in the crash. For more details on the program or to contribute go to; www.loveforlokomotiv.com

 

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