They first met in 2002, two young hockey players from the Czech Republic trying to make it with different teams in the NHL. By 2006, Tomas Vokoun and Josef Vasicek were roommates with the Nashville Predators. They didn’t know each other as kids or as rising stars in the Czech Republic’s youth hockey system. But they shared both similar personalities and outlooks on life and quickly became best friends.
Vasicek lasted one more season in the NHL before signing with a Russian Kontinetal Hockey League team, Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, in 2008. He was with the club on Sept. 7 when its plane crashed on takeoff en route to a KHL game in Minsk. Forty-four of the 45 people on board died, including Vasicek – a tragedy Vokoun is still trying to come to grips with. He flew home for a memorial service
“I consider Josef’s family like my family. It was so hard to see his parents and, obviously, his girlfriend [Michaela Jajtnerova] and everybody,” said Vokoun, who flew back to the Czech Republic for the Sept. 15 funeral. “Such a tragedy when somebody dies like that and they’re 30 years old, full of life. He was supposed to be getting married. So it’s not an easy thing to understand.”
Tonight, when the Caps play the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center, players from both teams will wear patches on their jerseys in remembrance of those killed in the plane crash. Vokoun, expected to start in goal for Washington, will have a Lokomotiv sticker on his helmet, too. The game-worn and game-issued jerseys will be autographed afterwards and auctioned at NHL.com. All proceeds benefit the Lokomotiv players’ children and families. Wives and girlfriends of Penguins players will also sell remembrance bracelets before and during Thursday’s game to benefit the Lokomotiv families. Washington sold the bracelets at its home opener on Oct. 8.
“It more gets to you when I go back on the computer and I see my friends’ name and realizing you’re never going to be talking to him again,” Vokoun said. “Text messaging with his girlfriend – that’s when you feel it the most. People say time heals all wounds. Just hoping that’s true for her and his parents and all these other parents and wives of the people on the plane.”
Vokoun also knew Slovakian star Pavol Dmitra, a longtime NHL player who had just signed with Lokomotiv. He was a former NHL teammate of Karlis Skrastins in both Nashville and with the Florida Panthers. He played with Ruslan Salei in Florida. The web of connections runs deep in this sport, especially among the eastern European players who leave family and friends behind to make it in North America.
Vokoun said Jajtnerova, Vasicek’s fiancé, also became good friends with Vokoun and his wife, Dagma. But right now Jajtnerova is not doing well. First came the initial shock after the crash and then an emotional funeral. But the well-wishers have come and gone now. Jajtnerova still has the support of family and friends, Vokoun said, but the toughest part will be in the months ahead – for her and all the loved ones left behind.
“Not saying [Jajtnerova] is by herself, but it hits you after a while. That person is never coming back,” Vokoun said. “Your life is never going to be the same no matter what you’re going to do. It’s one of those things when you lose money you can go and work and make more. This you can’t do anything about it. You’ve just got to deal with it.”
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