Yesterday, 43 people was killed when an airplane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team to Minsk, Belarus, crashed just minutes after take off from an airport north of Moscow. One of them was Stefan Liv, a much loved sportsman and Sweden’s national team goaltender. Stefan was 3o years old and he only got married to his wife Anna two month ago. He leaves her and their two little boys behind – and a nation in grief.

Before moving to Russia, Stefan Liv played in the top Swedish professional league, Elitserien, for HV 71, based in Jönköping in central Sweden. Yesterday evening, thousands gathered outside HV 71”s home to express their sorrow. They  lit candles and shed tears over the loss of a player who for the past ten years has been almost invaluable for the team and for Swedish ice hockey. And people have been coming to the arena all day to pay their respect to Stefan Liv and all the others who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash.

Talented ice hockey players from Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belarus, Latvia and Russia was onboard the plane and today our toughts go out to everyone one of them and their families.

Vila i frid, rest in peace.