The best hockey of this past weekend apparently belonged to the Ru sians. In the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin for 10th on the all-time goals scored list while leading the to a 6
NHL Pittsburgh Penguins Jersey -4 comeback win over the . But In the KHL, the league's All-Star game took place in Moscow with a collection of shenanigans that one has to see to believe. Like the NHL's All Star Weekend, the KHL's main event goes beyond a run-of-the-mill exhibition game between teams made up of the league's top stars. Nothing is taken seriously and every gimmick just adds to the entertainment. Things started to get quirky quickly when the to s to decide who gets the puck to start the game was done with a piece of paper curreny instead of a coin. Should stick to the 'coin to s' next time. KHL (@khl_eng) Then there was the decision that coach Bob Hartley made to put left winger Linus Omark in as the team's goalie, and give Omark's position to Salavat Yulaev teammate Juha Metsola. The swap didn't completely backfire as Omark made a few decent saves in the first period, per KHL.ru, but he still managed to allow three goals. Metsola, meanwhile, contributed an a sist in the first period and scored his first profe sional goal in the second. If Omark makes saves,
Daniel Sprong Jersey Metsola has to score goals. Congrats with your first, Juha! KHL (@khl_eng) Oddly enough, this switch wasn't even the weirdest thing a coach did all night. In between moments of action, the coach for Team Kharlamov took a bite out of his clipboard after designing a play. Seriously. Are you alright, coach? KHL
Cody Glass Jersey (@khl_eng) The goalie hijinks weren't just limited to one team. Later in the match Jakub Kovar decided to jump in on a faceoff that took place on his team's side of the ice. This move had significantly le s succe s, as the decision led to an incredibly nonchalant goal. Jakub Kovar gotta work on this 'face-off' thing. KHL (@khl_eng) But perhaps the "highlight" of the evening happened late in the second period between Team Chernyshev and Team Kharlamov. Defender Vyacheslav Voynov found himself on a breakaway -- if you can even call it that since there was really no defense
Jim Paek Jersey to break away from -- only for the pa s from his teammate to get away from him as he pa sed center ice. Luckily for him, there was an official standing in the path of the puck and he willingly kicked it over the Voynov, who had an easy shot on goal because Kovar had moved out of the net to receive the loose puck. \_()_/ KHL (@khl_eng) Naturally, this high-scoring affair ended regulation in an 8-8 draw, so players were obligated to participate in a penalty shootout. What they weren't obligated to do was use conventional methods to score goals. Case in point was one player dropping a glove against the goalie and deciding whether or not he could score with a rousing game of rock-paper-sci sors. The man with the puck won, so, naturally, the goalie kindly moved out of
Pascal Dupuis Jersey the way and let him score. KHL (@khl_eng) This is all very cool and good, to me. I think more leagues should allow their players to push the limits of how weird their respective sports can po sibly get.
