Henrik Haapala, who scored 3 goals for the Southern Conference, is presented the MVP trophy by Edinburgh General Manager John Charles. Haapala also won a 2024 Jaguar, manufactured in the United Kingdom.
EDINBURGH – Thanks to big performances from some All-Star Game newcomers, the Southern Conference managed to score a lopsided victory over the Northern Conference, 10-4 in Scotland.
The South doesn’t win often, and they now have 5 wins and 10 losses in the all-time series. A trio of first-time all-stars had a lot to do with the win. Henrik Haapala of Bern, Anthony Cirelli of Kosice, and Milan’s Robby Fabbri formed a line for coach Gerard Butler and they scorched the Northern Conference defense. Haapala, who is tied for the Bern team lead in goals with 22 in 43 games, scored a hat trick. Cirelli assisted on two of those goals and on two others. And Fabbri also assisted on two of Haapala’s goals.
The game was a close one-goal affair when the third period started – with Alex Nedeljkovic in goal for the North and Robin Lehner playing for the South. Nedeljkovic must have felt like the roof caved in on his side of the building. He gave up five goals while Lehner stopped everything the North shot. To be fair to the Dublin goalie, his defensemen seemed to forget about playing defense entirely as their squad pushed for a rally that never materialized.
In another all-star game first, about a third of the crowd left in the third period after Copenhagen star Erik Forssell, watching in the stands, got up and stormed out. Forssell seemed to be suddenly angry after his former teammate in Berlin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, tallied to put the South ahead 8-4. About 4,000 members of the crowd followed him out, chanting his name, and they did not return.
Game Summary
Scoring by periods
North – 1-3-0 … 4
South – 1-4-5 … 10
First period
Goalies: North – Korpisalo; South – Pickard
South – Galchenyuk (1) Asst: Cirelli (1), Parayko (1)
North – Lindholm (1) Asst: Seguin (1)
Second period
Goalies: North – Adorjan; South – De La Garma
South – Haapala (1) Asst: Cirelli (2), Fabbri (1)
South – Tavares (1) Asst: Dahlin
North – Schultz (1) Asst: Seguin (2), MacKinnon (1)
South – Hischier (1) Asst: Nugent-Hopkins (1)
North – Nylander (1) Asst: Ekblad (1), Lindholm (1)
South –Haapala (2) Asst: Cirelli (3), Fabbri (2)
North – Trouba (1) Asst: Lakatos (1)
Third period
Goalies: North – Nedeljkovic; South – Lehner
South – Tuch (1) Asst: Hronek (1)
South – Haapala (3)
South – Nugent-Hopkins (1) Asst: Galchenyuk (1), Cirelli (4)
South – Gallagher (1) Asst: Pietrangelo (1)
South – Couture (1) Asst: Hischier (1)
3 Stars
1 – Henrik Haapala (Bern) Southern Conference (3 goals)
2 – Anthony Cirelli (Kosice) Southern Conference (4 assists)
3 – Robin Lehner (Lisbon) Southern Conference (0 goals against)
Attendance: 12,040
