Mikhail Yuriyevich Balandin (July 27, 1980 – September 7, 2011) was a Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player. Balandin played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Hockey Club Lokomotiv , also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Yaroslavl. The name of the team is derived from its owner, Russian Railways, the national railroad operator....

 of the Kontinental Hockey League

Kontinental Hockey League

The Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....

 (KHL) at the time of his death. Balandin had also played for Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Salavat Yulaev is a professional ice hockey team based in Ufa in the Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. They are members of the Chernyshev Division of the Kontinental Hockey League, and were part of Group C of the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League.-History:The...

, HC Lada Togliatti

HC Lada Togliatti

HC Lada is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Togliatti, Russia. They were members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League.Due to a lack of a satisfactory arena the KHL expelled the team...

, HC CSKA Moscow

HC CSKA Moscow

HC CSKA Moscow is a Russian ice hockey club that plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. It is referred to in the West as "Central Red Army" or the "Red Army Team" for its past affiliation with the Soviet Army, popularly known as the Red Army...

, Mytishchi Khimik, Mytishchi Atlant and UHC Dynamo

UHC Dynamo

Unified Hockey Club Dynamo , or simply Dynamo Moscow, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. They are members of the Kontinental Hockey League. The team was created in 2010 after the merger of HC Dynamo and HC MVD...

 in Russia. Balandin won a silver medal with the Russian team

Russia men's national junior ice hockey team

The Russian men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Russia. The team represents Russia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship, held annually every December and January.-History of Team Russia:Russia competed as a...

 at the 2000 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

2000 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

-Group B:All times local .-Relegation round:-10-minute tie break game: was relegated to Division I for the 2001 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.-Final round:‡ Shootout victory.All times local ....

.

Death

On September 7, 2011, Balandin was killed, when a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying nearly his entire Lokomotiv team, crashed just outside Yaroslavl, Russia. The team was traveling to Minsk

Minsk

- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

 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.'"

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