On Friday afternoon, we received a call from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Evgeni Malkin, overcome with emotions, wanted to say a few words to his fellow countrymen in his native Russian, grieving with them after the plane crash this week that killed the players and coaches of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
It is easy to see how emotional he is in this video:
This is what he said:
"It is difficult to describe with words everything that happened. I still cannot comprehend it. I have a heavy heart… My sincere condolences to all the close ones, parents, wives, children and the entire city of Yaroslavl that supports this team.
"We are all sincerely feeling sorry and sincerely supporting all the close ones, relatives. Any help that may be needed — we will always help.
"All the players who are overseas right now — and I talked with a lot of them — we are all feeling for you, supporting…. This is a terrible tragedy. We have to live through it together. We have to keep together and move on. I know that Russia will get back on its feet and will carry on moving forward."
Malkin also issued an English-language video you can see here.
On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a meeting regarding the fate of Lokomotiv. Other participants will include heads of the KHL, the Russian Hockey Federation, Russian Railroads [the official sponsor of Lokomotiv], Ministry of Sports, Lokomotiv itself as well as a few fans of the Yaroslavl team.
Visit Puck Daddy on Saturday for an conversation with Pavel Datsyuk about the tragedy.