All-Star host named, first tourney on the way

We have a venue for one of the main events of 2025, while Kazakhstan gets ready to stage the first pre-season tournament of the year. Meanwhile, a productive defensive import is heading back to the KHL for a second time.Novosibirsk to host All-Star GameThe 2025 Fonbet All-Star Game is heading further east than ever – all the way to Novosibirsk. The Siberian city will stage the big event for the first time this season, making the most of its new 10,000-seater arena. The week of festivities starts on Feb. 1 with the Junior Hockey League’s Challenge Cup game. Then the KHL’s top players descend on Novosibirsk on Feb. 8-9 for the much-loved skill show and All-Star Game.Novosibirsk Region will stage the 2025 Fonbet All-Star WeekKampfer heading to ChelyabinskSteve Kampfer is back in the KHL – and for a second time, the American defenseman finds himself replacing Albert Yarullin. Kampfer’s first tour of duty took him to Kazan shortly after Yarullin moved to Traktor. Now the Russian d-man has made the return trip to Ak Bars, and Kampfer is heading to Chelyabinsk. The arrival of a productive two-way defenseman (Kampfer was third in team scoring after joining Ak Bars in 2021) also explains that decision to terminate Anton Burdasov’s contract early: the forward’s departure frees up much-needed cap space to secure Kampfer’s services. For the man himself, it’s a return after a couple of seasons in the AHL with Tucson.Bitten bound for SpartakKampfer was not the only player to swap the AHL for the KHL last week. Spartak signed up Will Bitten and may be hoping that the former Springfield man can be a replacement for Islanders-bound Maxim Tsyplakov. The two aren’t a perfect match, but they share an effective shot that relies on precision more than power to find the net. Other aspects of Bitten’s game call to mind Pavel Poryadin, while the fact that the Canadian is a right-hander offers balance to Spartak’s power play. The 26-year-old was an OHL champion in his junior days, and also played U18 World Championship hockey for his homeland.Fast start for RodewaldLast week saw the first warm-up game between two KHL teams, with Admiral and Vityaz serving up a cracker. Vityaz, playing under new head coach Pavel Desyatkov for the first time, jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first period. However, Admiral saw its imports come to the rescue. Jack Rodewald marked his debut for the Sailors with two goals, including the game winner, while Giovanni Fiore was also on target. Another new face, defenseman Mario Grman, had an assist along the way as Admiral rallied to win it 7-4. Last week also saw Ak Bars start its pre-season action with a 4-2 win at Neftyanik, while Amur suffered a 0-3 loss in its opener against AKM Tula.Preseason round-upFirst pre-season tournament starts next weekMore teams are getting into pre-season action, and the summer’s first tournament is set to start on Wednesday. It’s a big one for Kazakhstan, with David Nemirovsky taking charge of Barys for the first time, while the country’s national team joins the contenders at the President of Kazakhstan Cup. That’s part of the preparation for Olympic qualification action at the end of August. Amur and Lada complete the line-up: the four teams play a round-robin group phase, then medal games on Sunday. In other preparation games, we’ll get a first look at Kunlun Red Star, Spartak, Avangard, Metallurg and Torpedo.