The NHL world is in the dog days of summer when news is scarce, and fans are itching for anything hockey-related. Signings have gone way down to where there might be one or two announcements, and it seems like the 2024-25 season will crawl its way to everyone eventually. However, during the weekend of July 20, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev of Utah HC and forward Artemi Panarin brought together the best Russian NHLers & KHL All-Stars for a charity game at CSKA Arena in Moscow, Russia. The charity exhibition game, perfectly named “Match of the Year,” featured 16 Russian players from the NHL and 16 from the KHL to raise money for charities and auction off signed jerseys.
Some of the NHLers included were Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Pyotr Kochertkov, Pavel Buchnevich, Dmitry Kulikov, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Kirill Kaprizov. Ovechkin was one of the first players to commit to the event, which took the exhibition game up a level. The KHL counterparts featured the likes of Nikita Zaitsev, Alexander Radulov, Nikolay Goldobin, Sergey Tolchinsky, Grigori Panin, Egor Yakovlev, Vadim Shipachyov, and Alexander Nikishin.
From Russia with Love
The game was going to be shown live on Match TV in Russia, with ways to stream the game on the NUUM app as well. Just from the opening ceremonies of the players getting announced to the sold-out crowd at CSKA Arena, people knew that the charity game would be electric. The sell-out crowd even wowed the players, hoping to see some people interested in the exhibition game.
When asked about the sold-out tickets before the day of the event, Sergachev stated through Google Translation from sports.ru, “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 could not imagine such a stir. Tickets on the Internet sold out in a day, and my friends constantly call and write to me asking me to find an opportunity to get into the arena. I see how our fans miss 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. On July 20, together with our partners and our team of organizers, we will try to give everyone a great hockey holiday. I’m waiting for everyone in the stands of the CSKA Arena, as…
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