The Best of the Best. KHL All-Star Game Records

The pace of Team West, the power of Alexander Ryazantsev, the lethal finishing of Sergei Mozyakin, and the lightning speed of Wojtek Wolski – KHL.ru presents the most significant records set during the eight-year history of the KHL All-Star Game.

In the Bashkortostan capital of Ufa, on the 21st and 22nd of January, the finest players in the League will compete in the Master Show and All-Star Game – the biggest winter event in Russian hockey. This year sees a radical change to the format: onto the ice will step not two teams, but four – each one representing a Division of the KHL, and they will contest two semi-finals and a final.

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This is the ninth All-Star Game in the KHL’s history, and hockey fans have already been treated to spirited contests against the beautiful backdrop of Red Square and the packed ice palace in Minsk, an operatic solo from Mikhail Anisin in Riga, a graceful dance from Konstantin Barulin in Chelyabinsk, and much, much more. Every All-Star Game is unforgettable in its own way. It serves up great offensive combinations, superb goals, spectacular saves and a festive atmosphere. But to whom do we apply the superlatives? Who is the most ever-present, the highest scorer, or unluckiest goalie? Which club has been represented 24 times in this star-studded gathering? KHL.ru has collected the facts and figures behind the great achievers in the history of this glittering celebration of hockey excellence.

Master Show

There have been a total of 12 different contests in the Master Show over the years. Some, such as the Shootout, the Fastest Skater and the Team Relay, have already achieved tradition status and are firmly embedded in the program, while others, such as the Short Shootout or the Pairs’ Shooting Accuracy, turned out to be one-off events. The KHL is constantly searching for innovations to surprise and delight the fans, so some tests of speed, skill and strength are set aside and replaced with something fresher.

One of the Master Show’s firm favorites remains the Shootout. Who could forget Vladimir Tarasenko’s trickery, Pavel Datsyuk’s magic, Nikita Gusev’s stunning strike, or Linus Omark's blazing stick? But who are the overall masters of the Master Show Shootout? A glance at the list of winners shows that no individual player has captured the prize more than once, but we can spot a pattern among the teams. If we look at the results for East and West we can see that since the start of their rivalry (in the 2010-11 season) the men from the Orient lead 4-2.

No less captivating has been the Fastest Skater, and the record here belongs to Wojtek Wolski, who in 2015 completed the circuit in only 13.178 seconds. The results table shows up another interesting fact regarding the teams. In contrast to the Shootout, four of the five fastest times have come from Team West players. The results also suggest players are becoming faster, with all the best times coming in 2014 or later.

The kings of the blue line compete in the Master Show Hardest Shot, and in the Riga 2012 event Alexander Ryazantsev broke the world record with an almighty strike clocked at 183.67 km/h (114.13mph), and no subsequent attempt has even come close. And not only has record-breaker Ryazantsev struck four of the top five shots, but he has won this event for two points of the compass: West (while at Severstal) and East (representing Traktor).

Such has been Ryazantsev's domination that Denis Kulyash is the only other player to force his way into the top five, but who else has excelled in this trial of strength? Here are the rankings from 6 to 10.

Returning for a moment to the subject of skating speed, here are the team totals for victory in the Master Show Team Relay, with the West reigning supreme.

All-Star Games

The main attraction of the All-Star Games is the glut of glorious goals, and it will surprise no-one that the most prolific point-scorer of the past 8 years is also the all-time top scorer in the history of Russian national championships - Sergei Mozyakin.

*seven players share 10th-16th place with 9 points.

It is not only the forwards who fill their boots during the All-Star Games. The defensemen have also been the scourge of the goalies, and the three most deadly to date have been Kevin Dallman, Kirill Koltsov and Ilya Nikulin.

*Five more defensemen have three points in All-Star Games

The All-Star Game is a happy hunting ground for goal scorers, and on this measure, too, the leader is Mozyakin with 22 Goals. Who would bet against him adding to that total on Sunday?

*six more players have scored five goals in All-Star Games

It’s almost a surprise when Mozyakin does not hold a record, but in the list of the finest assistants, we see that Alexander Radulov is the undisputed champion when it comes to providing the marksmen with the ammunition.

*two more players have six assists in All-Star Games

The previous KHL All-Star Game in Moscow surpassed all others for high scoring, and a host of records were broken as a result. The two teams shared 51 goals, so it follows that 2016 features heavily in the lists for most points in a single game. Brandon Kozun secures the number one spot with 9, just ahead of five players – including Mozyakin, of course – on 8.

That same year, Matt Ellison scored seven times, thus breaking the record for most goals in an All-Star Game.

One player who can out-assist Radulov is Dmitry Kagarlitsky. In the 2016 event he provided the killer pass for seven goals. A record, of course.

All-Star Games are played in such a friendly spirit that the penalty box is always empty and infringements of the rules are a rarity, but there are players who get punished. We are talking, of course, about the goalies, who would never allow so many goals in the regular championship or play-offs. The most frequently beaten goaltender in All-Star Game history is Konstantin Barulin, who has picked the puck out of the net 29 times in 5 appearances, but he was also the star who captured everyone’s hearts with his balletic dance moves.

Mozyakin has played in every All-Star Game. The attendance record for goaltenders is held by

Konstantin Barulin (five outings) and the most frequently selected defensemen are Ilya Nikulin and Kevin Dallman (each with six call-ups).

*18 players have appeared in three KHL All-Star Games

Each All-Star Game has featured at least one SKA player, and the same boast can be made by Dinamo Minsk, Avangard and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The Petersburg club head our list due to the higher number of appearances in the big event.

*figures represent total appearances; as some players have featured in more than one All-Star Game; the total number of individual players selected is often lower 

The KHL spans eight countries: Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, Kazakhstan, China and Croatia. But the League is home to far more nationalities, and no fewer than 14 nations have seen their citizens selected to take part in the All-Star Game.

In Ufa this weekend we will doubtless see the stars smash more records, surprise us with sparkling action and delight us with phenomenal tricks. Not long now!