Alex Ovechkin will lace his skates up and play in the annual “Match of the Year” on July 13. The event, organized by Artemi Panarin and Mikhail Sergachev, will again pit Russian stars from the NHL against some of the KHL’s best.
Ovechkin played in last year’s contest, scoring the opening goal and being named the game’s best player. The proceeds from the event will go to charity, and the game raised over 10 million rubles ($127k) last year.
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” the Telegram post announcing Ovechkin’s involvement reads. “Alexander Ovechkin has an 897% chance of playing in the Match of the Year!”
The reference is a nod to Ovechkin sitting on 897 career goals in the NHL after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record this past season.
Last year, Ovechkin was joined on the NHL side by former Capitals Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as Sergachev, Panarin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Pavel Buchnevich, Dmitry Kulikov, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Kirill Kaprizov.
The KHL side featured names like Nikita Zaitsev, Alexander Radulov, Nikolay Goldobin, Sergey Tolchinsky, Grigori Panin, Egor Yakovlev, Vadim Shipachyov, and Alexander Nikishin.
The venue where the game will take place and the full rosters have not yet been announced. Last year’s game was in front of a sold-out crowd at CSKA Arena in Moscow.
Ovechkin is currently on vacation with his family in Turkey. According to reporting from Match TV, his vacation is expected to last from June 7 to July 7.
June 10, update: These are the full rosters per Match TV.
NHL team: Alexander Ovechkin (Washington), Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota), Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin (Rangers), Mikhail Sergachev (Utah), Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov (Columbus), Dmitry Orlov, Andrei Svechnikov, and Alexander Nikishin (Carolina), Ilya Lyubushkin (Dallas), Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), Vladislav Gavrikov and Andrei Kuzmenko (Los Angeles), Pavel Buchnevich (St. Louis), Artem Zub (Ottawa), Dmitry Kulikov and Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida), Vasily Podkolzin (Edmonton), Alexander Romanov (Islanders), and Ilya Kovalchuk.
KHL team: Vadim Shipachev (Dynamo Minsk), Vladimir Tkachev, Damir Sharipzyanov, and Semyon Chistyakov (Avangard), Alexander Radulov (Lokomotiv), Nikolai Goldobin and Pavel Poryadin (Spartak), Nikita Nesterov (CSKA), Maxim Dorozhko (Vityaz), Artem Galimov, Nikita Lyamkin, and Dmitrij Jaškin (Ak Bars), Egor Yakovlev (Metallurg), Bogdan Konyushkov (Torpedo), and Vitaly Kravtsov (Traktor).
