Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Локомотив Ярославль |
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Nickname | "Loko", "Railwaymen" |
City | Yaroslavl, Russia |
League |
KHL 2008–2011, 2012–present
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Conference | Western |
Division | Tarasov |
Founded | 1959 |
Home arena |
Arena 2000 (capacity: 9070) |
Colours | |
Owner(s) | Russian Railways |
President | Yuri Yakovlev |
General manager | Yuri Lukin |
Head coach | Alexei Kudashov |
Captain | Staffan Kronwall |
Affiliate(s) | Loko (MHL) |
Website | hclokomotiv.ru |
Franchise history | |
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2000–present Torpedo Yaroslavl 1965–2000 Motor Yaroslavl 1964–1965 Trud Yaroslavl 1963–1964 YaMZ Yaroslavl 1959–1963 |
KHL 2008–2011, 2012–present
Hockey Club Lokomotiv (Russian: ХК Локомотив, English: Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator.
On 7 September 2011, a plane carrying the team to a game in Minsk crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all of the team's roster (except forward Maxim Zyuzyakin, who was not on the flight), all coaching staff (except goaltending coach Jorma Valtonen, not on the flight) and four players from the Loko 9 juniors squad of the Minor Hockey League (MHL) The tragedy forced Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to cancel their participation in the 2011–12 KHL season.
The team has been known previously by several different names:
The team generally played in the Second League of the Class "A" group during the Soviet era, being promoted to the First League of Class "A" for the 1983–84 season. Known as Torpedo Yaroslavl at that time, the team enjoyed moderate success under head coach Sergei Alekseyevich Nikolaev. Never a powerful club during the Soviet era, the team became a consistent winner with the creation of the Russian Superleague (RSL) following the collapse of the Soviet Union, winning its first RSL championship in 1997 under coach Petr Vorobiev. The club moved from Avtodizel Arena to the new Arena 2000 early in the 2001–02 season, and won consecutive league championships in 2002 and 2003 under Czech head coach Vladimír Vujtek, Sr. Vujtek left the club after the 2002–03 season for a lucrative contract offer from rival Ak Bars Kazan. Lokomotiv has not been able to replicate its success since that time, but remained a perennial contender in the RSL and the later KHL.