For most hockey fans, the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster of 2011 is their most shocking and tragic memory connected with the sport. The effects were far-reaching, with some European countries losing some of their greatest legends in the sport, turning the tragedy into one of national mourning. The HC Sparta community grieved the loss of one of its alumnus, Jan Marek, and have immortalized him with a memorial bust at Tipsport Arena and by naming an international youth tournament in his honor.
One frequent visitor to Sparta’s home rink this summer can’t walk by these reminders without thinking of a friend he lost that September.
Strength and conditioning coach Brandon Bovee, who hails from Orange County, California, is helping Sparta players with their off-season workouts and is making daily visits to the arena in Holešovice. The path that has led him to the Czech capital began three years ago when he began working for his local NHL team, befriending perhaps Belarus’ greatest hockey hero along the way.
“I did a season as an intern with the Anaheim Ducks, helping out (head strength and conditioning coach) Sean Skahan. One of the players who worked out there in the summer was Ruslan Salei.” A former Duck now playing for the Detroit Red Wings, Salei continued to live in Southern California, working out in the off-season with Skahan and Bovee. “The next summer he signed with Yaroslavl. One day he just walked in and asked me, ‘Hey, are you interested in going to Russia?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, why not?’”
A life-saving job rejection
“Originally he was trying to get me to Yaroslavl because he knew that strength and conditioning coaches in Russia were not as advanced as he was used to in the NHL. He wanted me to go there, but they had just signed a new strength coach, Nikolai Krivonosov, so he said, ‘I can’t get you the Yaroslavl job,’ which turned out to be a good thing,” he understated.
Calling it “a good thing” is quite an understatement, of course. Krivonosov, the guy who got the job that Bovee had sought, was one of the 44 who perished as a result of the crash.
Through his connections in Minsk, Salei was able to get Bovee a job with Dinamo, another KHL club. Coincidentally, the two teams, Dinamo and Lokomotiv, were scheduled to open the season against each other on September 7. Lokomotiv was to fly to Minsk the day before, but Salei contemplated travelling earlier on his own to visit family and arrange for them to watch the game from a private box. About two hours before the ill-fated flight, however, Salei and Bovee talked on the phone, where Bovee learned of the change of plans—Salei would be flying with the team.
Later that afternoon, he received a phone call. “I was sitting on the couch in my apartment and I got a phone call and all I heard was, ‘Did you hear? Did you hear?’” After being told the news, “I sat straight up on my couch and thought, ‘This can’t be real.’”
“Then I got a phone call from Sean from Anaheim and he said, ‘Please tell me Ruslan was not on the plane,’ and I said, ‘Unfortunately, I think he was.’”
“It was unreal. It was such a surreal feeling. Then I remember walking to the rink and . . . it was such a heavy situation because they were flying to play us. Then we had the ceremony at the arena and it was very emotional; so many people just sobbing. Ruslan was such a famous player in Belarus and there was such an outpouring of emotion.”
They say that from crisis comes opportunity. Living in a foreign land, Bovee became close to Salei’s family, and in particular one member. “Actually, his niece is my girlfriend now. We really bonded from that tragedy and she lives with me here in Prague now.”
Bovee: "I absolutely love (Prague)"
Yes, after two years in Minsk, Bovee is now here in Prague. What brought him to the Golden City?
“I was just ready for a change and Prague was an attractive option for me. For one thing, it’s more convenient for me to have guests from the United States come visit me here, as far as visas and flight connections.”
While working in Minsk, Bovee returned back to Southern California every spring to work with Ducks prospects. He was originally planning to do that this year as well and then come to Prague in July to start working for HC Lev, but was asked to come early to work with Sparta. And what’s his impression of the city so far?
“The city’s absolutely beautiful. I had been here before, with Minsk when we played here and I got to see a little bit of the city. I came back here to meet with some of the staff and got to see a bit more. The weather hasn’t been great lately (laughs) and there’s still a lot more for me to see, but the little bit I have seen I absolutely love.”
