TUNOSHNA, Russia -- A private jet carrying a Russian

professional hockey team to its first game of the season crashed

shortly after takeoff Wednesday, killing 43 people -- including

European and former NHL players -- in one of the worst aviation

disasters in sports history. Two people survived the accident.

Both Russia and the world of hockey were left stunned by the deaths of so many international stars in one catastrophic event. Of the 45 people on board, 36 were players, coaches and

team officials; eight were crew.

Dallas Stars defenseman Karlis Skrastins, Slovakian national team captain and ex-NHL player Pavol Demitra, Olympic gold medal-winning goaltender Stefan Liv of Sweden and the team's coach, former Detroit Red Wings assistant and NHL player Brad McCrimmon were among those confirmed dead.

The chartered Yak-42 jet was carrying the team -- Lokomotiv

Yaroslavl -- to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play

Thursday against Dinamo Minskin its opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League

season.

The plane apparently struggled to gain altitude and then hit a

signal tower before breaking apart along the Volga River near

Yaroslavl, 150 miles northeast of Moscow. One of

the blue-and-white plane's charred engines poked through the

surface of the shallow water.

Russian television showed a flaming fragment of the plane in the river as divers worked feverishly to recover bodies.

"This is the darkest day in the history of our sport," said

Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. "This is not only a Russian tragedy -- the Lokomotiv roster

included players and coaches from 10 nations."

One player -- identified as Russian Alexander Galimov -- and one

unidentified crew member were hospitalized in "very grave"

condition, said Alexander Degyatryov, chief doctor at Yaroslavl's

Solovyov Hospital.

"Their state of health is very grave. But there is still some hope," said Degyatryov said.

Also killed were Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek, the Emergency Ministry said.

Ruslan Salei of Russia, who played for the Red Wings last year and previously played for the Anaheim Ducks, was also among the dead.

"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world -- including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

NHL Players Association executive director Donald Fehr said the union was "deeply saddened" by the deaths of so many former NHLPA members.

"Words cannot express the profound sorrow that this loss has created. Our sincere condolences go out to the friends and families who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy," Fehr said in a statement.

Russian NHL star Alex Ovechkin tweeted: "I'm in shock!!!!!R.I.P ..."

The crash comes on top of an already mournful year for the NHL in which three of the league's enforcers were found dead: Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and recently retired Wade Belak.

The cause of Wednesday's crash was not immediately apparent, but Russian news agencies cited unnamed local officials as saying it may have been due to technical problems. The plane was built in 1993 and belonged to a small Moscow-based Yak Service company.

Players from Lokomotiv of the KHL were aboard a plane that crashed on the banks of the Volga River, killing at least 43. AP Photo/Misha Japaridze

In recent years, Russia and the other former Soviet republics have had some of the world's worst air traffic safety records. Experts blame the poor safety record on the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

"It's just stunning and just awful," Demitra's agent, Matt Keator, said of the tragedy.

Keator had visited with Demitra in Russia three weeks ago. He first met the player when the two were with the Blues organization -- Keator as a scout and Demitra as a successful player.

"You couldn't find a more popular teammate," Keator said.

Two former Chicago Blackhawks, Alexander Karpovtsev and Igor Korolev, also were among those that died. Karpovtsev and Korolev were assistant coaches with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

Karpovtsev, 41, played for the Hawks from 2000-04. He won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. He joined three Rangers teammates in 1994 as the first Russian players to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Korolev, also 41, was a Hawk from 2001-04. In 12 NHL seasons with St. Louis, the Winnipeg-Phoenix franchise, Toronto and Chicago, he scored 119 goals in 795 games.

"We stand together with the entire KHL, NHL and hockey world in mourning today's tragic news concerning the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team," the Hawks said in a statement. "The tragedy affects the Chicago Blackhawks family directly as we mourn the losses of Alexander Karpovtsev and Igor Korolev, two players who spent time with our organization and that our fans know well. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl organization."