November 1, 1999
Russia: All Star Game in Works
The first Russian All-Star Game is close to reality. The
proposal is to hold the festivites on December 12-13 between teams from the Eastern and
Western divisions made up of the best players according to fan voting.
Russian Hockey Federation President Alexander Steblin has the
assurance of the governor of Kemerovsky region that the game, to be held in Novokuznetsk,
will be a well-organized affair. An executive committee of FHR (Russian Hockey Federation)
recently came to a final decision that Novokuznetsk will host the game.
In the Western voting, Egor Podoamatsky (Torpedo
Yaroslavl) and Alexei Yegorov (Dynamo Moscow) lead the way. Among the defensemen, Montreal
draftee Andrei Markov (Dynamo Moscow) is on top followed by his teammate Alexander
Khavanov and Dimitry Krasotkin (Torpedo Yaroslavl). As for centers, former Maple Leaf
Alexei Kudashov (Dynamo Moscow), Alexander Prokopyev (Dynamo Moscow) and Vyacheslav
Bezukladnikov (Lada Togliatti) lead the poll. The most interesting fight is among the
wingers, where three representatives of Dynamo Moscow - Alexander Kharitonov, Alexander
Kuvaldin and Mikhail Ivanov - compete with Calgary draftee Dimitri Vlasenkov (Torpedo
Yaroslavl).
Denis Neznanov
HockeyZone's Russian Correspondent
