Former Calgary Flame Brad McCrimmon is among the 43 people who were killed in a devastating plane crash in Russia.

McCrimmon and six other former NHL players were among those killed in the crash in western Russia.

Former members of the Calgary Flames say the crash has shaken the hockey community.

"These things hit you like a ton of bricks and you do your best to deal with them and move on. So right now we're talking with our different team mates and trying to come to grips with the reality that the Beast is no longer on this earth," said Jim Peplinski.

"It's stunning news to hear cause it's a guy that over the years I've gotten to know very well. He was a member of the Flames, he won a Stanley Cup, he was a former Flames' Captain, he was a former Flames' assistant coach, and even got to keep contact with him over the years in his time with Detroit so it's those that's really stunning and shocking," said Peter Maher, Flames Announcer.

McCrimmon was known to the players as "the beast" and he had aspirations to become an NHL head coach.

"When you see things like this, I mean, for myself it makes you realize how important life is and how much is out of our control," said Flames captain, Jarome Iginla.

McCrimmon, 52, is a native of Plenty, Saskatchewan and played for six NHL teams in his career.

He was a member of the Calgary Flames when they won the Stanley Cup in 1989.

He also served as an assistant coach on the Calgary bench from 2000 – 2003.

McCrimmon was most recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He took the coaching job with the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in May.

The Soviet-built Yak-42 crashed into a river bank immediately after takeoff near the western city of Yaroslavl, Russia, about 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow.

The plane was carrying members of the Lokomotiv ice hockey team, who were due to travel to Minsk to play the opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.

The KHL includes players from several Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia hockey teams. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a top team in the league and came third in the KHL last year.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash.

(With files from ctv.ca, The Associated Press, and The Canadian Press)