The crash is `` a catastrophic loss to the hockey world , '' NHL commissioner says . Demitra was a former Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks center , RIA Novosti reported , while fellow center Vasicek was formerly with the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes . Eleven of 45 people on board the plane were foreigners , Russian officials say . Score: 6 The plane crashes on takeoff from Yaroslavl airport bound for Minsk , Belarus .
The crash is `` a catastrophic loss to the hockey world , '' NHL commissioner says . Eleven of 45 people on board the plane were foreigners , Russian officials say . Score: 6 The plane crashes on takeoff from Yaroslavl airport bound for Minsk , Belarus .