Kārlis Skrastiņš

Kārlis Skrastiņš (July 9, 1974 – September 7, 2011) was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Skrastiņš was drafted by the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League in 1998 as a defenceman and spent twelve years in the league playing for the Predators, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the Dallas Stars.

Kārlis Skrastiņš
Born (1974-07-09)July 9, 1974
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Died September 7, 2011(2011-09-07) (aged 37)
Yaroslavl, Russia
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Pārdaugava Rīga
TPS
Nashville Predators
Colorado Avalanche
Florida Panthers
HK Rīga 2000
Dallas Stars
National team  Latvia
NHL Draft 230th overall, 1998
Nashville Predators
Playing career 1991–2011

For the 2011-2012 season, Skrastiņš left the NHL and signed a contract to play in Russia for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). However, he never got to play a game for Lokomotiv as he was killed in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed almost the entire team on September 7, 2011.[1]

Playing career

Skrastiņš was drafted by Nashville Predators with the 230th pick in the ninth round of 1998 NHL Entry Draft.[2] On October 15, 2002, against the New York Islanders, he scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal. He played for Nashville for five seasons until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2003.[3] On February 8, 2007, he played in his 487th consecutive game to pass Tim Horton for the longest playing streak in NHL history for a defenceman.[4] Skrastiņš' streak ended at 495 games, when he missed a February 25, 2007 game against the Anaheim Ducks with a knee injury.[5] He had previously missed only one other game due to injury in his career — against St. Louis on February 18, 2000, with a minor shoulder injury. The streak led to him being given the nickname "Ironman".[6]

In his fourth season with the Avalanche in 2007–08, he was traded to the Florida Panthers for Ruslan Salei (who also died in the Lokomotiv plane crash) on February 26, 2008.[7] In his first full season with the Panthers in 2008–09, Skrastiņš scored a career high 18 points in 80 games. On October 16, 2008, he played his 600th career NHL game against the Minnesota Wild[8] and on November 1, 2008, he scored his 100th point in his NHL career in a 3–2 loss fittingly against his original club, the Nashville Predators.[9]

On July 2, 2009, he was signed by the Dallas Stars to a two-year contract worth $2.75 million.[10] He scored his only two goals of the 2009–10 season, including the game winner, on December 19 in a 4–3 Stars victory over the Detroit Red Wings.[11]

On May 17, 2011, after eleven seasons in the NHL, Skrastiņš left to sign a contract with Russian team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.[12]

Death
Main article: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash

On September 7, 2011, he was killed, when a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly his entire Lokomotiv team, crashed just outside Yaroslavl, Russia.[13] The team was traveling to Minsk to play their opening game of the season, with its coaching staff and prospects. Lokomotiv officials said "'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.'"[14][15][16][17]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Stars Rīga LVA 16761310 —————
1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga LVA 1072912 —————
1992–93 Pārdaugava Rīga RUS 4035816 20000
1993–94 Pārdaugava Rīga RUS 42751218 21014
1994–95 Pārdaugava Rīga RUS 524141869 —————
1995–96 TPS SM-l 504111532 1122410
1996–97 TPS SM-l 50281020 120442
1997–98 TPS SM-l 484151967 40000
1998–99 Nashville Predators NHL 20110 —————
1998–99 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 758364447 20112
1999–2000 Nashville Predators NHL 59561120 —————
1999–2000 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 19381110 —————
2000–01 Nashville Predators NHL 821111230 —————
2001–02 Nashville Predators NHL 824131736 —————
2002–03 Nashville Predators NHL 823101344 —————
2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82581326 110222
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 BLR 348172530 300025
2004–05 HK Rīga 2000 LVA 40440 93101333
2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 823111465 901110
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 680111130 —————
2007–08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 4313420 —————
2007–08 Florida Panthers NHL 1710112 —————
2008–09 Florida Panthers NHL 804141830 —————
2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 792111324 —————
2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 7435838 —————
RUS totals 134142438103 41014
SM-l totals 148103444119 2726812
NHL totals 83232104136375 2003312

International
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1993 Latvia WC C 21st 71670
1993 Latvia OGQ DNQ 41122
1994 Latvia WJC C 18th 415633
1994 Latvia WC B 14th 73580
1995 Latvia WC B 14th 71124
1996 Latvia WC B 13th 72248
1997 Latvia WC 7th 80334
1998 Latvia WC 9th 60116
1999 Latvia WC 11th 61126
2000 Latvia WC 8th 71234
2001 Latvia WC 13th 63030
2002 Latvia OG 9th 10000
2003 Latvia WC 9th 633627
2005 Latvia OGQ Q 31010
2005 Latvia WC 9th 62022
2006 Latvia OG 12th 50110
2009 Latvia WC 7th 71120
2010 Latvia OG 12th 40000
Tier I Senior totals 6211122349
Tier II Senior totals 28891714

See also
  • List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career

References
  1. Life News (in Russian). Lifenews.ru http://www.lifenews.ru/news/68936. Retrieved September 7, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Karlis Skrastins #37 – D". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  3. "Karlis Skrastins". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  4. "Avalanche blue-liner Karlis Skrastins sets ironman mark". CBC.ca. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  5. "Skrastins' consecutive game streak ends at 495". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  6. "Karlis Skrastins, Ice Hockey". Vancouver 2010.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  7. "Avalanche acquire Ruslan Salei". CBC. 2008-02-26. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  8. "Wild Thrash Panthers with 6 goals". NHL. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  9. "Predators outlast Panthers". CBS Sports. 2008-11-01. Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  10. "Dallas Stars Sign Skrastins To 2-Year Deal". CBS 11 TV.com. Associated Press. 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  11. "Stars snap Red Wings' four-game winning streak". USA Today. Associated Press. 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  12. "NHL defender in Yaroslavl". Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. 2011-05-17. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  13. "MInistry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia confirms that Skrastins has died". Tvnet (in Latvian). Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  14. "First pictures from the crash of Yak-42 near Yaroslavl". Lifenews.ru. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  15. "The list of Lokomotiv players who died". Lifenews.ru. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  16. "Pavol Demitra among 43 killed in Russian plane crash". Toronto: theglobeandmail.com. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  17. Lynn Berry (7 September 2011). "Russian jet crash kills 43, many top hockey stars". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
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