Sharks prospect Daniil Sobchenko, a sixth-round pick (166th overall) in the 2011 NHL entry draft, was among those who died.
The crash also was the latest tragedy to befall the sport of hockey following the sudden deaths in the offseason of three of the NHL's enforcers.
The chartered Yak-42 jet was carrying the team - Lokomotiv Yaroslavl - to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play today in its opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season. Of the 45 people on board, 36 were players, coaches and team officials; eight were crew.
The plane apparently struggled to gain altitude and then hit a signal tower before breaking apart along the Volga River near Yaroslavl, 150 miles northeast of Moscow. One of the blue-and-white plane's charred engines poked through the surface of the shallow water.
"This is the darkest day in the history of our sport," said Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
One player, identified as Russian Alexander Galimov, and one unidentified crew member were hospitalized in "very grave" condition.
Among the dead were Lokomotiv coach and NHL veteran Brad McCrimmon, a Canadian; assistant coach Alexander Karpovtsev, one of the first Russians to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup as a member of the New York Rangers; and Pavol Demitra, who played for the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks and was the Slovakian national team captain.
Russian NHL star Alex Ovechkin reflected the anguish that resonated through the sport when he tweeted: "I'm in shock!!!!!R.I.P."
"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world - including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
In recent years, Russia and other former Soviet republics have had some of the world's worst air traffic safety records. Experts blame the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.
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