Hockey’s two premier leagues, the Continental Hockey League (KHL) and the National Hockey League, conducted All-Star Games on Jan. 25.
Forward Nigel Dawes and defender Mike Lundin from the Astana club Barys participated in the annual KHL All-Star event, this time held in the location of the recent Winter Olympics, Sochi.
The KHL East team, which included the two Barys players, won the All-Star Game 18:16.
Both Astana players performed well on the ice. Dawes scored four points, (1+3 points according to the goal+pass system and Lundin got 1 point (1+0).
In general, the Kazakh team players were separated in different fives. In the graph by the ratio of throws and delivered pucks only Mike Lundin has a 100 percent rate. He scored a goal with his only throw and was the only All-Star participant to do so.
Kazakh hockey fans also had something else to be happy about; Astana team mascot Barsik was the best shooter in the KHL among colleagues. There is a side event at such tournaments where mascots also compete again each other and are allowed to shoot at the goal. One can say that all the participants of 2015 Continental Hockey League All-Star Game from Barys scored a goal.
Before the game, Barys players told The Astana Times that they wer enervous and excited about the All-Star game because it was their first All-Star game.
After the game,Dawes said he hopes to play in next year’s All-Star game and that he hopes to play well enough during the season to be selected again.
Dawes is the KHL’s top shooter with 28 goals andLandin is one of the league’s most efficient defenders with 32 points, according to the goal+pass system as well as his time on ice.
Barys has two home games ahead, including a Jan. 30 contest against KHL leader CSKA Moscow. The team will then embark on a road trip, including games in Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod and Novokuznetsk.
