Brad McCrimmon, who was the Bruins’ first-round draft pick in 1979 and played for the team until 1982, was killed today in the plane crash that nearly wiped out the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team.
Forty-three people — of 45 on board — were killed when the team’s charter flight to Minsk crashed on takeoff in Russia.
McCrimmon was the team’s coach. A defenseman during his playing days, he scored 17 goals during three seasons with Boston.
He’s being remembered fondly by peers and friends tonight:
– Fellow coach Ken Hitchcock told the Washington Times that McCrimmon “sacrificed” a lot in going to Russia. McCrimmon’s ultimate goal, Hitchcock said, was to parlay experience with Lokomotiv into a head coaching job in the NHL.
– Former Calgary Flames teammate Perry Berazan told TSN that McCrimmon influenced “thousands” of people “in a positive way.”
– Globe and Mail reporter Eric Duhatschek took to his blog to call McCrimmon “one of most interesting characters I’d ever run across in 30-plus years
of covering hockey, as close to a friend as you can have without
stepping over that boundary that divides the press from the management
team.”
– The CBC reported on mourning for McCrimmon in his hometown of Plenty, Sask.
