The meteorite explosion over Chelyabinsk

WATCH: Compilation of Russian meteor videos via Guy Kawasaki

The head Coach of "Tractor" Ravil Gusmanov said the meteorites shower, that happen in Chelyabinsk this morning, did not stop the team's morning skate. According to him (via RIA Novosti) the meteorite fell near the ice arena shortly before training.

"The meteorite fell shortly before Tractor's morning skate," said Gusmanov. "I was at home, just about to leave for morning skate with the team. It was not like an earthquake, there was a strong bang and a bright flash in the sky. Thank God, there's no damage in my house, the windows are intact, everything is all right. As for our ice arena, everything seems to be ok too. At least we had a our training session and now ready for the road trip."

As for Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov? No news are the good news, right? "I wish I would leave to play for the Washington Capitals," said Evgeny. Nah, just kidding, he didn't say that. :)

Stick around for more updates from Chelyabinsk.


@1:00

"Our team's training was normal, but after morning skate everyone, who was at the ice arena, was evacuated. As far as I know, there were some cracked windows at the arena and severely damaged gate through which Zamboni gets on ice," said Traktor's defenceman Dmitri Ryabykin over the phone to RSport.ru.

Tractor's goalkeeper Andrei Mezin:

"At first we laughed, but in reality the situation was very serious, because it was pretty decent explosion. As for me, I was at home, it was around 9:20 local time. The ledge of the house fell off, smoke started coming from electric sockets. At the time I thought, 'What happens, hopefully the building won't fall apart." To be honest, I was scared. I did not see the flash itself, but the sound was such that I thought that's it, the war started. I looked out of the window to see what was happening, and there a huge band of smoke. I thought maybe the plane exploded. A lot of windows were broken at many homes, at the ice arena, the gates through which Zamboni gets on ice were thrown up. it was all for real. This is the number one news in the world now.

It just seems that it is somewhere near us, but it was seen in Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Magnitogorsk, Bashkortostan. The sound of explosion and the sonic boom from the blast came 3-4 minutes after the blast. And the guys in the team who drove children to kindergarten, took them back home. The children were very scared. Imagine that, blown up windows and the flying glass. For little kids it was very scary. The most important thing right now it to take care of kids now."

Vladimir Krechin, director of HC Tractor:

"The damage to the walls of the ice arena is minor, and it makes no sense to talk about some global implications. The evacuation of all personnel was associated primarily with the fact that we needed to make a detailed inspection of the damage before going forward. I should also note that none of the players, nor anyone from the staff of the club was not injured. In the morning they were all at work and left the scene only after the announcement about evacuation.

RIA.RU:

The people of Chelyabinsk, an industrial city plagued by dismal environmental pollution and high crime rates, became Russia’s new token tough guys after a television skit show called “Our Russia” went viral in the mid-2000s: It extolled their numerous implausible virtues and over-the-top skills, not unlike the US-born “Chuck Norris facts” phenomenon, praising the hyper-tough action hero.

The Russian meme claims that “Chelyabinsk [social group] are so hardcore that…” The variations are many, ranging from “Chelyabinsk postmen are so hardcore they bite dogs in the butt” to “Chelyabinsk woodpeckers are so hardcore they drilled two subway stations.” The meteorite predictably triggered a wave of new incarnations of the meme, like “Chelyabinsk rains are so hardcore they’re made of stone.”

The meteorite also spawned a dozen Russian-language Twitter accounts of its own, all offering more lowbrow humor, with lines like, “Looking to meet earthlings. No Bruce Willises” – a reference to the Hollywood star’s crusade against space debris in “Armageddon.”

Here's that question to Alex Ovechkin about Kuznetsov's neighborhood in interview to Pro Sport magazine...

Q: You were at Evgeny Kuznetsov's wedding in Chelyabinsk. Did he try to scare you with his neighborhood? (Apparently Kuznetsov grew up in rough neighborhood - tj)
Ovechkin: We were out of town.

Now it makes all sense... "Chelyabinsk rains are so hardcore they’re made of stone" haha

TJ Овечкин OvetjkinBlog

Here's an explanation why so many Chelyabinsk meteorite videos were available http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pick/why-are-there-so-many-russian-dash-cam-videos-on-the-internet-2013019/

TJ Овечкин OvetjkinBlog

[In Russia] You can get into your car without your pants on, but never get into a car without a dash cam http://www.rferl.org/content/dash-cams-russia-fighting-corruption-and-scams-car-crashes/24780355.html

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