It’s been a long week for Shakir Mukhamadullin. He was only named to the All Star game officially on Wednesday as injury cover, then had to play back to back games in Abbotsford, BC on Friday and Saturday night. His journey back to the Bay Area started with a 4am wakeup call on Sunday morning.
It [was] a long way for me to [get here]. I wake up at four, flight at seven. When we got here, they told us to turn around and try again in two hours.
Mukhamadullin on his flight from Vancouver to San Jose
Mukhamadullin would fly from Vancouver to San Francisco, but inclement Bay Area weather would prevent him from landing, so they flew on to LA. After over two hours of waiting at LAX, they finally flew back up to San Francisco, but had to circle the airport for an hour. Eventually, Mukhamadullin, the Barracuda’s equipment manager and their media relations manager got into an Uber, where they raced to Tech CU.
Mukhamadullin arrived at the arena at 6:30, 14 and a half hours after waking up that morning, and was on the ice fifteen minutes later. There was a wrestling-like pop of cheering as he skated out in the steel jersey (the best Barracuda jersey, for what it’s worth), and he had to do an entire lap of the rink to fistbump every player and fan.
It surprised me. But I love when the fans get loud, I love it for the fans. Thank you to all the fans for coming from other cities. It was a lot of fun.
Mukhamadullin on his entrance to the Skills competition
Mukhamadullin missed his chance for Hardest Shot and Puck Control Relay, but he finished the evening off with a goal in the Breakaway Challenge, a slick backhand that he tucked past WBS Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist. The roof practically came off of Tech CU Arena, and Mukhamadullin did a victory lap with his arms in the air.
“It’s not my number one move, but because it’s [the] All Star Game, I do something different. Maybe in a game I would do something different, but […] I got lucky.”
Mukhamadullin on his shootout move
A whirlwind day for Mukahammadullin didn’t end there, as he signed autographs and took selfies with fans for almost an hour after the skills competition, before media availability, and then, finally, getting to enjoy dinner with close friend Yaroslavl Askarov, who he hasn’t seen in person in close to two years.
It’s great to have him here. We played together in the National team, in juniors. It’s great. Normally we just go to a football game, so.’
Mukhamadullin on his friendship with Askarov
Mukhamadullin will be ready and raring to go for tonight’s All Star Classic Tournament, which starts at 6pm PT and 9pm ET. The four teams (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific) will face off in a three on three round-robin tournament, and the top two teams will face off in a Championship game. You can watch the Tournament on AHLTV or NHL Network.
