Chelyabinsk puts on a show. Day One of the Fonbet KHL All-Star Game

Skill Show starts

The day began with the first part of the Skill Show. Neftekhimik forward Pavel Poryadin had the fastest lap of the rink, completing his circuit in 13.121 seconds. Sibir’s Canadian defenseman Trevor Murphy won the hardest shot contest, firing in an effort at 165.63 km/h. Murphy admitted he was a little nervous when he attempted this kind of competition for the first time but added that he was enjoying his first experience of an All-Star Game.

The penalty shot contest is always a highlight, and this year’s edition did not disappoint. The prize came in two parts. Barys forward Jeremy Bracco won the jury’s vote for the best display of hockey skills.

“It’s really cool,” Bracco said. “It’s great to get out on the ice with the guys when we’re not trying to kill each other! It’s great that we get a chance to chill out a little and have some fun. It was a surprise to be picked for the All-Star Game. It’s a big honor when you’re chosen by your league and your team. There’s a wonderful atmosphere. You can see how the people here really love their hockey.”

In the more creative half of the competition, Metallurg’s Nikolai Goldobin won 30% of the fan’s votes. He borrowed the distinctive glasses of his head coach Ilya Vorobyov and used a magnetic puck (Metallurg, after all, comes from Magnitogorsk, the city on the ‘Magnetic’ hill of iron ore) to help him score. Goldobin can donate a 1 million-ruble prize fund to the charity of his choice, thanks to sponsor FonBet.

All-Star action

That was merely the appetizer for the main event. As usual, the All-Star Game is a four-team event with each division competing. Saturday was semi-final day.

The Western Conference went first and wasted no time in warming up the crowd. Daniil Vovchenko of Severstal put Team Tarasov ahead in the first minute, assisted by his clubmate Robin Press and Kunlun forward Brandon Yip. However, it wasn’t long before Team Bobrov hit back in some style. Alexei Kruchinin, currently with Torpedo, scored twice to help his team to a 6-2 lead at the break.

Team Tarasov’s second goal went to Ivan Demidov, one of four players called up for the big event after impressing in the Junior Challenge Cup a week earlier. Today was also the SKA prospect’s 17^th birthday and he got to celebrate his goal with a generous slice of cake.

That cake fuelled a big fightback in the second half, rallying from 2-6 to 6-7. However, Tarasov could not finish the job and further goals from Kruchinin and Dmitrij Jaskin saw Team Bobrov take a 9-7 verdict.

The Eastern battle was no less absorbing. Team Kharlamov, led by Traktor favorite Anton Burdasov, jumped into a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes. Burdasov got the opening goal, to the delight of most in the crowd. However, Team Chernyshev responded quickly to tie the game. Jeremy Bracco got one and the other went to another young prospect, Vladimir Konov. Team Kharlamov kept itself in front, though, with Goldobin playing a starring role to secure a 5-4 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, Igor Bobkov and Evgeny Alikin took over between the piping. That immediately slowed the scoring, although Alikin could not stop Metallurg prospect Roman Kantserov converting a great feed from Buradasov to extend Kharlamov’s lead. Kantserov became the third junior player to score after a call-up to this weekend’s festivities. At the other end, Bobkov stopped almost everything that came his way, save for one effort from Alexander Sharov. Two Metallurg players, Goldobin and Yakovlev, sealed the win for team Kharlamov, which will now face Team Bobrov in Sunday’s final.