Russian women’s league announces All-Stars

The game, which will be played January 13 at Neftekhim Arena in Nizhnekamsk, features many of Russia’s top talents

The Russian Women’s Hockey League (Женская хоккейная лига—ЖХЛ, or ZhHL) announced the rosters for this year’s All-Star Game on Dec. 7. The game will take place on Jan. 13 as part of the KHL’s “Week of Hockey Stars,” a week that also includes the all-star games for the men’s junior league and the KHL itself.

The women’s All-Star Game will be played at Neftekhim Arena in Nizhnekamsk, the home of KHL side Neftekhimik, located in the northern part of the Republic of Tatarstan that will be hosting this year’s Week of Hockey Stars. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. Moscow time, or 6 a.m. ET.

Though the league itself is single-table, the All-Star teams are split into East and West. The Western All-Stars come from SK Gorny St. Petersburg, Tornado Moscow Oblast, and Dinamo St. Petersburg, while the East’s best play for Agidel Ufa, SKIF Nizhny Novgorod, Biryusa Krasnoyarsk, and SK Sverdlovsk Oblast.

League leaders Agidel are sending seven players to the game, including East captain Olga Sosina, as well as East head coach Denis Afinogenov. Dinamo St. Petersburg will also be sending seven players.

Here are the rosters:

Team West—Goalies Valeria Merkusheva (Dinamo) and Nadezhda Alexandrova (Tornado); defenders Anastasia Chistyakova, Aneta Teiralova, and Yekaterina Nikolayeva (all Dinamo), Galina Skiba and Nina Pirogova (both Tornado), and Liana Ganeyeva (SK Gorny); and forwards Hayley Williams, Tatiana Rafter, and Fanuza Kadirova (all SK Gorny), Yevgeniya Dyupina, Diana Kaneyeva, and Yekaterina Smolina (all Dinamo), Anna Shokhina*, Alvetina Shtaryova, and Yelena Dergachyova (all Tornado)

Team East—Goalies Anna Prugova (Agidel) and Nadezhda Morozova (Biryusa); defenders Mariya Batalova, Anna Shibanova, Inna Dyubanok, and Alena Mills (all Agidel), Polina Goralkova (Biryusa) and Anastasia Medvedeva (SKIF); and forwards Polina Bolgareva, Viktoria Kulishova, Landysh Falyakhova, and Oxana Bratisheva (all SKIF), Olga Sosina* and Nicol Čupková (both Agidel), Anna Timofeyeva and Valeria Pavlova (both Biryusa), and Yekaterina Anisimova (SK Sverdlovsk Oblast)

* captain

This is the third installment of the ZhHL All-Star Game, with the West winning the 2017 edition in Ufa and the East winning in 2018 in Astana.