Twenty-four hours after one of his best friends, Pavol Demitra, lost his life in a plane crash in Russia, Marian Gaborik was at a loss for words.
“You just can’t really believe it, you know?” the Rangers star forward said yesterday after skating with many of his teammates at the team’s Westchester practice complex. “It’s tough. I can’t imagine how it is for his family . . . it’s a shock. All of a sudden, he’s gone. It’s horrible.”
Demitra was one of the players on board when the plane carrying the KHL club Yaroslavl Lokomotiv crashed Wednesday in Russia.
Gaborik and Demitra, a three-time NHL All-Star, are from Slovakia. Over the past decade, the two played together frequently with the Slovakian national team, including at the Olympics in 2006 in Turin and 2010 in Vancouver. There, they helped lead the team to a fourth-place finish, the best in its history.
The two also played together for Slovakia on multiple World Championship teams, as well as from 2006-2008 in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild.
Wednesday’s tragedy extended what has already been a difficult summer for Gaborik. His friend and teammate with both the Wild and Rangers, Derek Boogaard, passed away in May.
“This summer has been crazy,” he said. “It’s hard to describe.”
Gaborik said he had already been in touch with some friends throughout the league, in the hopes of getting a group of players together to go overseas for the funeral services.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” he said. “I don’t know when it’s gonna happen . . . I don’t want to think about it.”
Even after the crash, Gaborik admitted that he couldn’t think twice about all of the various plane flights he’ll be taking during the upcoming season.
“When you’re in a plane, you can’t control what’s gonna happen.”
After struggling through an injury-plagued season, Gaborik admitted that, at some point, he’d have to turn his thoughts toward the upcoming season — including a preseason trip to Europe, where the Rangers will play an exhibition game in his home country.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “It is what it is. You just have to deal with things . . . it’s just hard.
“Just to lose some of hockey’s family members around the world. . . it’s hard for everyone.”