Alex Ovechkin didn’t play in last season’s NHL All-Star Game in favor of rest and recuperation but he will be lacing up his skates to play against a team of KHL All-Stars this summer. The event, labeled “Match of the Year” by organizers, will pit Russian stars from the NHL against some of the KHL’s best.
Per Daria Tuboltseva from Sport24.ru, Mikhail Sergachev, newly of Utah HC, and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers put out calls to drum up interest for the matchup. Ovechkin was the first to commit to the action, which will take place at CSKA Arena in Moscow on July 20.
“Dear fans, we are waiting for you on July 20 at the CSKA Arena,” Ovechkin said, as translated by Google Translate. “It’s going to be great hockey, lots of surprises. See you there.”
The Great Eight will play alongside former Capitals Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Kovalchuk in the NHL stars lineup, with other teammates including Sergachev, Panarin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Pavel Buchnevich, Dmitry Kulikov, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Kirill Kaprizov.
The KHL side will feature names like Nikita Zaitsev, Alexander Radulov, Nikolay Goldobin, Sergey Tolchinsky, Grigori Panin, Egor Yakovlev, Vadim Shipachyov, and Alexander Nikishin.
The already sold-out event will air live on Match TV in Russia.
“A few months ago, when I approached Artemi Panarin and then Sasha Ovechkin with the idea of holding such a match, I understood that the audience would be interested, but I couldn’t imagine such excitement,” Sergachev said, per a sports.ru transcription translated via Google Translate. “Tickets on the Internet were sold out in a day, and my friends are constantly calling and writing to me asking for a way to get to the arena.
“I see how our fans have missed matches of this scale when the best Russian players gather on the ice. To be the organizer of such an event is a great honor for me but at the same time a great responsibility. I look forward to seeing everyone in the stands of the CSKA Arena.”
The “bulk” of the proceeds from the event are expected to go to charity and the organizers will be raffling off autographed jerseys over social media. The NHL team will be wearing purple sweaters and the KHL team will be donning orange sweaters.
“I think we have managed to create an interesting and memorable set of game uniforms, which the teams will wear in the charity match on July 20,” Sergachev said. “I hope fans will appreciate the bright and modern design of hockey jerseys, their colors. I am sure that now collectors will be chasing them.”
Ovechkin is back in Russia after vacationing in Turkey with his family. Saturday’s action will likely be his first on the ice since he participated in a Dynamo Moscow alumni game in late May.
