Weekend Edition Saturday

The National Hockey League is mourning more deaths this week. At least six current and former NHL players were killed Wednesday in the crash of a plane carrying a professional Russian hockey team. They were the latest in a series of tragedies involving NHL players in 2011. Tom Cavanagh and Rick Rypien both committed suicide, Derek Boogaard was found dead of a drug overdose, and the future of the league's star player, Sidney Crosby, is uncertain because of injury. Tom Goldman

Host Scott Simon talks with Joanne Barbara, the widow of New York Fire Department Assistant Chief Gerard A. Barbara, who died on Sept. 11, 2001, as he led the rescue effort from the lobby of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

NPR's Andrea Seabrook joins host Scott Simon to talk about how Congress — particularly its GOP members — are responding to the president's appeal for stimulus spending to create jobs.

Host Scott Simon and NPR's Mike Pesca discuss the US Open tennis tournament and the opening weekend of the 2011 NFL season.

In this week's essay, host Scott Simon reflects on his experiences on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York and wonders how he'll tell his children about them.