Former Panthers Dead In Plane Crash

Three former defensemen of the Florida Panthers were killed in a plane crash involving the Locomotiv KHL team in Russia on Wednesday. Ruslan Salei played every game for the Panthers in 2006-07 with six goals and 26 assists. He had three goals and 20 assists in 65 games in 2007-08 before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in February 2008 for Karlis Skrastins, who also died on the same plane. He played with Florida from 2007-08 until 2008-09 with five goals and 14 assists in 97 games. Salei joined Locomotiv after playing with the Detroit Red Wings last season while Skrastins had played the last two years with the Dallas Stars. Also killed was Locomotiv assistant coach and former Panthers defensemen Alexander Karpovtsev. He played his final NHL season with Florida in 2005-06 and was involved in six games with no goals and no assists.