Somber times in the square

Prague's Old Town Square, often the home of admiring tourists, rousing protests or rollicking bachelor parties, took on a decidedly more somber tone the past couple of days.

Photo from the Czech news agency. Story here

Photo from the Czech News Agency. Story here

Wednesday, a plane crash in Russia killed all but one every member of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team that was flying to its season-opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season. Three of the players were Czech: Jan Marek, Karel Rachůnek and Josef Vašíček. Czech officials announced there would be a memorial event at Old Town Square on Thursday, but fans in this hockey-mad country didn't wait that long.

Photo from the Czech News Agency.

The scenes were a stark contrast from the ones you'll find here, when the triumphant Czechs returned from Germany with the gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Championships to party with their fans at the square. Marek and Rachůnek were members of that world championship team, the Czechs' sixth since 1996. Although the World Championships are usually met with a distinct yawn in the U.S. and Canada, the Czechs take it very seriously, and in fact won the 2005 event, which because of the NHL lockout meant that all of the world's top players were available for the tournament.

Thursday, the Czech ice hockey federation announced that the numbers 4, 15 and 63 -- worn by Rachůnek, Marek and Vašíček respectively -- have been retired from the national team.

Photo from the Czech News Agency. Story here

The death of 43 44 players, coaches, staff members and plane crew is absolutely senseless. One does hope, however, that this accident will finally encourage the Russians to improve their fleet of airplanes, which currently take off by having Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble drop their legs through a hole in the cockpit and run as fast as they can. Until then, there's not much left to do but offer condolences to all those impacted. And the list is long -- the players and coaches represented 10 countries.

This blog entry has been updated to reflect the accurate death toll. Player Alexander Galimov, who initially survived the crash despite severe burns, died on Sept. 12.