First Bunch Of KHL All-Stars Revealed

The KHL All-Star week is fast approaching and with that, the fan and media votes have concluded giving us the first surnames that will take the ice to shine bright. Players from the Women’s Hockey League and Junior Hockey League will travel to Chelyabinsk to begin the festivities that will be ongoing from Jan. 8-16.

First up were the fans who voted and selected their favorites, after those votes were cast the media had their say. So far? There haven’t been any surprises.

This year’s KHL All-Star game will be a little different than it used to be, there won’t be any divisional rivalry or no sporting concept whatsoever. The teams will represent geographical regions so the teammates on daily basis could no longer be teammates but opponents – battling each other.

Team Russia, not surprisingly, will be comprised exclusively of Russian players, Team North America brings together our Canadian and American imports, Team Scandinavia will feature players from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, while all other nations in the KHL family – from France to China – will join Team Eurasia.

The schedule for the All-Star Weekend is changing as well. On Saturday, the first part of the Skill Show will be interspersed with the semi-final games in that 3-on-3 tournament. The following day will bring the culmination of both contests: the remaining Skill Show events and the medal games in the tournament.

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KHL President Alexei Morozov:

After the 2020 Fonbet KHL All-Star Game in Moscow, we put in some serious work to devise a new sporting concept. Our working party looked at many different ideas before opting for a contest between our geographical regions. We have many classy players from many different countries in our league and we want to show that the KHL is not just Russia, but the whole world. We are sure that this new concept will be a big success – now, players from your favorite club can appear on any team at the All-Star Game.

The rosters after fan and media votes:

Team Eurasia: Alexei Kolosov (Goalie, Dinamo Minsk) Janis Jaks (Defenseman, HC Sochi) Darren Dietz (Defenseman, Barys Nur-Sultan) Nick Bailen (Defenseman, Traktor Chelyabinsk) Ilya Usov (Forward, Dinamo Minsk) Nikita Mikhailis (Forward, Barys Nur-Sultan) Lukas Sedlak (Forward, Traktor Chelyabinsk)

Team Russia: Dmitry Shikin (Goalie, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg) Grigory Panin (Defenseman, Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Vadim Shipachyov (Forward, Dinamo Moscow) Ivan Nikolishin (Forward, Amur Khabarovsk) Nikita Tertyshny (Forward, Traktor Chelyabinsk) Dmitry Rashevsky (Forward, Dynamo Moscow) Andrei Kuzmenko (Forward, SKA St. Petersburg)

Team North America: Edward Pasquale (Goalie, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) Mat Robinson (Defenseman, SKA St. Petersburg) Steven Kampfer (Defenseman, Ak Bars Kazan) Corban Knight (Forward, Avangard Omsk) Philippe Maillet (Forward, Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Kenny Agostino (Forward, Traktor Chelyabinsk) Brian O’Neill (Forward, Helsinki Jokerit)

Team Scandinavia: Juha Metsola (Goalie, Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Oliwer Kaski (Defenseman, Avangard Omsk) Teemu Hartikainen (Forward, Salavat Yulaev Ufa) Niko Ojamaki (Forward, Vitjaz Podolsk) Teemu Pulkkinen (Forward, Traktor Chelyabinsk) Jori Lehtera (Forward, Spartak Moscow) Marko Antilla (Forward, Jokerit Helsinki)

The remaining spots will be filled-in with and selected by the league. Each team will contain two goalies, nine skaters, and two coaches. The finalized rosters are to be announced a month prior to the event – On December 14th.