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On Wednesday KHL All-Star fan voting had been stopped and after all votes were counted league announced the starting lineups for KHL's All-Star game.
The winner of the voting was Matthew Maione - Canadian defensemen with Italian heritage. Surprisingly it's players first season playing in the KHL but he has already raised up the ranks of popularity amongst fans.
Here is what Maione himself had to say about the victory:
- It is a real surprise for me. I really appreciated that the fans love my style of hockey and vote for me. I am happy that could be at this event with great players. I don’t think that I would have enough time to prepare some tricks, but I do everything to entertain fans.
While voting each fan could pick two players in each position from each division to select players that would step on the ice for the event.
The main events of the KHL All-Star weekend will be held in Kazan - home of the AkBars team.
Bobrov Division Defensemen: Mathew Maione (Dinamo Riga) – 2,536 votes Patrik Hersley (SKA) – 1,848 votes Forwards: Nikita Gusev (SKA) – 2,160 votes Linus Videll (Dinamo Riga) – 1,314 votes
Tarasov Division Defensemen: Nikita Nesterov (CSKA) – 1,683 votes Jakub Nakladal (Lokomotiv) - 1,236 votes Forwards: Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA) – 2,425 votes Andrei Loktionov (Lokomotiv) – 1,026 votes
Kharlamov Division Defensemen: Paul Postma (Ak Bars) - 1,802 votes Nikita Tryamkin (Avtomobilist) – 1,267 votes Forwards: Nigel Dawes (Avtomobilist) – 2,248 votes Sergei Mozyakin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) – 1,790 votes
Chernyshev Division Defensemen: Darren Dietz (Barys) – 2,175 votes Philip Larsen (Salavat Yulaev) — 1,742 votes Forwards: Sergei Shirokov (Avangard) – 1,873 votes Ilya Mikheyev (Avangard) – 1,872 votes
Fans have decided: these guys are going to 2018 #KHLAllStar Game in Kazan! pic.twitter.com/od2LxjsW9E
— KHL (@khl_eng) November 14, 2018
Per KHL:
This concludes the first stage of the selection process. The second stage is the journalists' vote, in which members of the media select the starting goaltender, plus one defenseman and one forward, for each Division. Later KHL sporting department will choose the latest players for All-Star weekend. The final 44 players’s list will be unveiled on December 19. Best players of JHL Challenge Cup would fill four spots in the teams.