Jaro Halák

Jaro Halák hovorí o očakávaniach v novej sezone, o tom ako si uctí Paľa Demitru a ako sa neteší na návrat Jaromíra Jágra do NHL i o tom čo si myslí o zranení Sida Crosbyho...
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New Season Starts On A Sad Note

We open a new NHL season with heavy hearts and condolences to the families of all the players and personnel that have passed away this tragic off-season. In May it was Derek Boogaard of NY Rangers followed by Vancouver/Winnipeg's Rick Rypien in mid August who went to hockey heaven way too early. As the month of August was winding down the summer, another bolt of lightning struck, when a good friend Wade Belak took his own life in Toronto.

I knew Wade since his first training camp with Colorado. He had a huge smile on his face every time i saw him, a quick joke and a quip. After he retired toward the end of last season he stayed on with the Nashville Predators organization to work as a radio analyst, with hopes to move to the TV side of things. Last time we saw each other was end of March in Denver where we spent the entire time watching the Avs-Preds game from his new vantage point in the radio box up at Pepsi center. We talked about families, old times and laughed a lot. That was Wade's way. Always with a big grin, good humor, positive outlook on life. Wade loved his family, loved the game of hockey. And that is the way i will remember him always.

My tears have not dried up yet, when i learned that that a plane crashed in Yaroslavl, Russia, carrying a hockey team. Hockey team!? - no! YAROSLAVL!!!? NO! went through my mind that Wednesday early morning. Can't be! I fought and prayed that it was a typo. I know a lot ot players who now play for Lokomotiv. It simply can't be true!

First, i called Milan Hejduk, to see what he knows. But Milan even aware of the tragedy yet, since it was early in the morning here in the States.

And, as i frantically typed and searched the net for more accurate info on the tragedy, it all came to a head, that it is not a bad dream or some twisted reality. An aging YAK-42 plane went down and everyone on that plane perished. Faces of my friends rushed to my mind; Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins, Josef Vasicek, Jan Marek, Karel Rachunek... and of all their young families.

More than two weeks has passed since that dreadful morning of September 7 and i'm still numb from the shock. 

Walking into Avs lockeroom as the 2011/12 training camp opened was hard. I will always see Rusty sitting there, with his mischievous grin on his face. Or Karlis, shy, but always ready to face the music... Rusty came through Denver late last season while playing for Detroit. He was happy and beaming with the news of his third child being born in March. A little girl. We talked about kids, future. Life was good now, he was happy and, after a long time, felt healthy. "I will play a couple of seasons more, maybe go back to KHL, to play there for a bit," he said with a straight face. "So people will get to know me again. That way it will be easier for me to get elected as president of Belarus..." he added wit a sly grin. That was vintage Rusty. I'll miss you, old friend!

It was a devastating day for hockey everywhere. World lost a lot of good people, great fathers, husbands and sons. 

With Pavol Demitra, it goes without saying. He was one of the nicest guys i've met. Not just in NHL, but anywhere, period. Quiet, yet funny. Kind and talented. Since he and Majka got married and had those beautiful kids, family became his first and biggest love. Don't get me wrong, hockey was still his passion and means of expression, and a job as well. They battled through loss of their son Tobias soon after he was born, and stood in the spotlight of Vancouver Olympics success for Slovakia. 

We spent some time together over the years, being it while he played for St. Louis, LA Kings, Minnesota of Vancouver, during his trips to NHL All Star games, or at the Worlds... too many great memories. It is hard to realize, that you're gone for good. 

Nothing makes any sense anymore... yet we must go on and by just doing so, somehow we honor those who are gone now. Life is to be lived. Let all of their lives inspire us to make this world better place, to realize that every smile, every day and every second counts. But it shouldn't be a tragedy, that makes us all aware of this...

Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny on Lost Friends

As the new NHL season begins a couple of reflections from former team mates and friends on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's tragedy earlier this month.