It was seven years ago when I put this story together and I will never forget how hard it was to focus. Knowing that I lost a player who I thought was an essential part of the Detroit Red Wings made this difficult to write. I knew Ruslan Salei and Brad McCrimmon had to be honored with Pavol Demitra, Kārlis Skrastiņš, Igor Koralevm Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Alexander Vasyunov. This article was published around the world once and wanted to share this again with professionalism once again.
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DETROIT, Michigan – No one in the Detroit organization or the entire hockey world needed more heartache just 11 days before the start of the NHL preseason. A plane carrying former Detroit Red Wings Assistant Coach Brad McCrimmon and defensemen Ruslan Salei were killed alongside 5 other NHL stars when their plane crashed minutes after takeoff near Yaroslavl, Russia yesterday.
The plane with KHL team Lokomotiv were on their way to a season opener against Dynamo Minsk in Belarus. Salei, unable to find a contract offer in the NHL found an opportunity with Lokomotiv and signed a one year deal with the team earlier this summer. The 36-year-old was excited to return to his hometown of Minsk where he had not been in some time. He started his career with Dynamo Minsk playing in only 10 games.
After four years in the minors, Salei nicknamed “Rusty” was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 1996 spending the next ten seasons scoring 26 goals and played all 21 playoff games during the team’s drive to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003 before losing to the New Jersey Devils. His time with the Ducks brought him to make a permanent residence in Newport Beach, California with his wife and two children.
After the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Salei returned to Russia where he played one of the best seasons with Russian Super League Ak Bars Kazan playing in 35 games scoring 8 goals, 11 assists and a +/- rating of 19. The 05-06 season saw Salei back with Anaheim for one final year before his trade to the Florida Panthers spanning two seasons. He totaled 32 points, scoring six goals and 26 assists in 82 regular season games.
In 2008 during the NHL trade deadline, Salei was traded for Kārlis Skrastiņš from the Colorado Avalanche who was among the dead in the crash. In his first of three seasons with the team, he finished second among defensemen in the NHL with 21 points in 70 games. Former Avs center Joe Sakic was teammates with Skrastiņš and Salei during their seasons in Colorado. "Both Karlis and Ruslan were unbelievable individuals and great teammates,” said Sakic. “They will be sorely missed.”
With strong recommendations from former Ducks coach Mike Babcock, Salei agreed to a one year deal with the Detroit Red Wings where his defense experience became a much need commodity in a veteran built team. He played 75 regular season games scoring two goals, eight assists, and 10 points and played in all 11 playoff games scoring the first goal in Game 3 as the Red Wings swept the Phoenix Coyotes. "Rusty was a team player and played well for us," said Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom.
Salei played on the Belarusian national team from 1994-2010 making three appearances in the Olympics where his team beat the undefeated Swedish national team. Belarus was 0-3 in the tournament and appeared in their first medal match in Olympic history.
Salei’s career statistics were not to be frowned upon. He finished his NHL career with 45 goals, 204 points, and 1,065 penalty minutes in 917 regular-season games. He added 7 goals, 16 points and 52 penalty minutes in 62 playoff games, along with a +/- 15.
Salei is survived by his wife Bethann, his three children: his son Aleksandro and his daughters Alexis and Ava, who was born in March of this year.
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