Thomas puts on a 5-goal show for Southern Conference

All-Star Game MVP Robert Thomas of Prague with EURO League oﬃcial Sepp Blatter (center) and Dublin GM Dennis Lee.

DUBLIN, Ireland – The All-Star Game turned into the Robert Thomas Variety Show in the second period when the Prague Sparta right wing scored four goals. He worked very well with Lisbon’s Mathew Barzal and went on to score 5 goals and 2 assists in the game. Thomas was an easy choice for Game MVP.

Barzal ended with 2 goals and 2 assists and was named 2nd Star.

But Thomas and Barzal were far from the only Southern Conference players who had fabulous showings as the conference won the game 14-3 to bring their record to a more respectable 6-10 over the life of the annual event. Bern’s Juuse Saros pulled off a rarity by shutting out an all-star lineup in a period. He was the South’s starting goalie. Other South players who put in notable shows were Oliver Bjorkstrand (Munich) and Alexander Polunin (Zurich) who had 3 assists each, and Nico Hischier (Bern) who scored 2 goals.

Kirill Kaprizov (Edinburgh) and Patrik Laine (Helsinki) actually had nice games for the Northern Conference, with a goal and an assist each, but their work was completely overshadowed by the South.

Southern Conference Coach Debra Crew, who was seen dining with Sepp Blatter two nights before the game, said, “I am so happy that it’s over. I think I went above and beyond the call of duty to get the Southern Conference this win. Mr. Blatter is a different kind of guy.”