The game pitted Team Boston vs. Team Svet. And the rosters were a who’s who of standouts — including some Hall of Famers — from around the hockey world.
Team Boston was comprised of a ton of Black and Gold dudes that won the 2011 Stanley Cup with Chara. It included forwards Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Mark Recchi, Milan Lucic, Jozef Stumpel, Michael Ryder, Chris Kelly, and Daniel Paille; defensemen Ray Bourque, Adam McQuaid, Dennis Seidenberg, Johnny Boychuk, and Andrew Ference; and goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
Tim Thomas and Chara’s agent, Matt Keator, coached Team Boston.
In addition to Chara, Team Svet featured forwards Jaromir Jagr, Anze Kopitar, Marian Hossa, Miroslav Satan, Zigmund Palffy, Thomas Vanek, Jakub Voracek, Robert Reichel, and Michal Handzus; defensemen Tomas Kaberle, Andrej Sekera, Aaron Ward, and Radek Hamr; and goaltender Petr Cech — the former soccer keeper who took up hockey in retirement.
Marian Gaborik, Peter Bondra, and Jergus Baca were behind the Team Svet bench.
Sturm was scheduled to play, but had to cancel after a bout with the flu kept him grounded in Boston.
Another “Zeemate” that didn’t make the trip overseas was fellow former Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who posted an apology on social media after the gritty winger underwent a recent surgery that will keep him sidelined for a stretch.
“I won’t be able to make Z’s game,” the Panther said. “Unfortunately, I had to have a surgery. [I] was trying to fix a problem without surgery, but unfortunately that was unable to happen and had to kind of do it last minute. … With the time and recovery I am going to need, I won’t be able to make it and play in the game, unfortunately.”
Marchand’s minutes were managed prior to the Olympics last season, and he was eventually shut down after it became apparent that Florida wouldn’t make the playoffs.
Still, he collected 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games, good for fourth best on the injury-riddled Panthers.
Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.