On Feb. 1 the Challenge Cup opens the Fonbet All-Star Week with a battle of Russia’s top young prospects. The traditional rivalry between Eastern and Western Conferences makes for a famously competitive game. The overall score is currently 9-4 in the West’s favor, so expect Team East to play with even greater fervor this year in the heart of Siberia.

The JHL Challenge Cup has been played in St. Petersburg, Ufa, Magnitogorsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Cherepovets, Nizhnekamsk, Astana, Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Tula. The game is a chance to get an early glimpse of some of the KHL’s future stars: in previous years we’ve seen Nikita Gusev, Alexander Barabanov, Nikita Tryamkin, Maxim Shabanov, Ivan Morozov, Alexander Nikishin and Artyom Galimov light up the game.

And there’s more than just victory at stake: for the top four players in the game, there’s a ticket to join in at the KHL All-Star Game the following weekend. In previous years we’ve seen Andrei Altybarmakyan and Ivan Demidov among the youngsters to make that step up.

Real emotion, drive and uncompromising battles – that’s the JHL Challenge Cup. It’s going to be huge!