Atlantic Division All-Stars' Ethen Frank (28), from the Hershey Bears, skates in the CCM Fastest Skater event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. He would win for the second consecutive year with a time of 13.032 seconds. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
First it was announced Sunday that San Jose Barracuda defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin was going to be late in arriving to the AHL All-Star Classic’s skills competition because his flight back to the South Bay had been delayed by weather. More than two hours later, word came that the San Jose Sharks prospect wouldn’t be taking part in any of the events.
Turns out that the second announcement was premature.
Early Sunday evening, Mukhamadullin showed up to Tech CU Arena and received a warm ovation from the fans in attendance as he skated onto the ice.
The 6-foot-4 Russian then took part in an event after all, the evening-ending Breakaway Relay, scoring a goal to put an exclamation point on the Western Conference’s 18-13 victory over the Eastern Conference.
The West won three of the seven events, and three others were tied. Individual winners were Hershey’s Ethen Frank (fastest skater), Colorado’s Riley Tufte (hardest shot), and Ontario’s Brandt Clarke (accuracy shooting).
Iowa’s Jesper Wallstedt and Cleveland’s Jet Greaves shared top goaltender honors, each stopping 15 of 18 shots over three goaltending events.
The event wraps up Monday at 6 p.m. with the AHL All-Star Challenge 3-on-3 tournament. Mukhamadullin, 22, is on the Pacific Division team.
(Story by Curtis Pashelka)
Pacific Division All-Stars’ Riley Tufte (10), from the Colorado Eagles, participates in the CCM Hardest Shot event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. He won with a speed of 100.9 miles per hour. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Central Division All-Stars’ Logan Stankoven (11), from the Texas Stars, participates in the Sharks Ice Accuracy Shooting event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) North Division All-Stars’ Trey Fix-Wolansky (64), from the Cleveland Monsters, participates in the CCM Fastest Skater event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) North Division All-Stars’ Gage Goncalves (39), from the Syracuse Crunch, scores a goal against Pacific Division All-Stars goaltender Dustin Wolf (32), from the Calgary Wranglers, in the Devcon Pass and Score event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) North Division All-Stars goaltender Jet Greaves (73), from the Cleveland Monsters, Central Division All-Stars’ Nic Petan (7), from the Iowa Wild, and Pacific Division All-Stars’ Grigori Denisenko (54), from the Henderson Silver Knights, participate in the AHLTV Rapid Fire event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Young fans react to a stop by North Division All-Stars goaltender Jet Greaves (73), from the Cleveland Monsters, during the Upper Deck Breakaway Relay during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Central Division All-Stars goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30), from the Iowa Wild, celebrates a teammate’s performance during the Upper Deck Breakaway Relay event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Fans watch the Upper Deck Breakaway Relay event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Atlantic Division All-Stars’ Dylan McIlrath (42), from the Hershey Bears, takes a shot during the CCM Hardest Shot event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Players participate in the Sharks Ice Accuracy Shooting event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Pacific Division All-Stars’ Olen Zellweger (3), from the San Diego Gulls, slips on the ice during the Inglasco Puck Control Relay event during the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Pacific Division All-Stars goaltender Dustin Wolf (32), from the Calgary Wranglers, signs autographs after the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Players sign autographs after the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Pacific Division All-Stars’ Shakir Mukhamadullin (85), from the San Jose Barracuda, hands his stick to Ethan Hall, 7, from San Jose, as his dad Norman and brother Dylan, 3, watch on, after the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Pacific Division All-Stars goaltender Matthew Villalta (31), from the Tucson Roadrunners, heads to the ice to start the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Pacific Division All-Stars’ Riley Tufte (10), from the Colorado Eagles, waits with other players before the start of the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) Originally published at Nhat V. Meyer, Curtis Pashelka
