The FONBET KHL All-Star Game 2022 took place in Chelyabinsk at the Traktor Ice Arena, with a vibrant pre-match show opened by popular hip-hop artists and assistant coaches of the teams: ST, НАZИМА, Anet Sai, and Slame.
The pre-show reminded players, coaches, and fans that the All-Star Game is a major hockey party. The main element uniting both days of the FONBET KHL All-Star Game was the musical content provided by top representatives of rap culture. The stage director abandoned the traditional mapping on ice; in the new concept, the focus was on the people and stars who took to the ice. The artists helped make this focus even more vivid.
Every hockey game begins with fans taking their seats. ST kicked off the pre-show in the stands of Traktor Ice Arena together with the audience. Another very important part of game preparation is ice resurfacing: НАZИМА drove onto the rink on a Zamboni. Installing the goals is the final touch before any game begins, and in Chelyabinsk, this task was handled by KHL club mascots, while Anet Sai appeared atop one of the goals as part of her pre-show performance. Finally, bringing the game as close to reality as possible is the referees’ entrance onto the ice – Slame started his performance from inside the referees’ box.
The show turned out to be extremely impressive not only for TV viewers or fans in the stands but also for the players themselves – hockey players didn’t just come out onto the ice after the show as usual; for the first time, they became a full part of it! During the show, each artist uniquely introduced participants of the star weekend – every player had their own line prepared with interesting facts about them.
The street culture concept was also reflected in player profiles designed as graffiti art. This direction perfectly complements hip-hop music, together forming a unique cultural phenomenon. All presentation videos, player, coach and referee video profiles, as well as related content were created in graffiti style.