CHAIMOVICH: COLIN McDONALD, ANDREW CAMPBELL NAMED PLAYING CAPTAINS FOR 2019 AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC 

  BY: Jason Chaimovich, AHL

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced today that Lehigh Valley Phantoms forward Colin McDonald, and Rockford IceHogs defenseman Andrew Campbell have been selected as the playing captains for the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield, to be held January 27-28 in Springfield, Mass.

Captains for the American Hockey League All-Star teams are selected by the league president each year in recognition of their outstanding leadership and service.

In his fourth season as captain of the Phantoms, Colin McDonald began his professional career in Springfield in 2007, spending three years with the AHL’s Falcons. A native of Wethersfield, Conn., McDonald has gone on to appear in 654 AHL games with Springfield, Oklahoma City, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Bridgeport, and Lehigh Valley, totaling 159 goals and 190 assists for 349 points. The former Edmonton Oilers draft pick (51st overall in 2003) has also collected 20 goals and 26 assists in 148 NHL games with Edmonton, Pittsburgh, the New York Islanders and Philadelphia. McDonald, who won the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL’s leading goal-scorer in 2010-11, will be making his third career AHL All-Star appearance.

One of Rockford’s six designated alternate captains this season, Andrew Campbell is in his 11th AHL season in 2018-19 and his first in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. Campbell has skated in 679 AHL games with Rockford, Tucson, Toronto, Portland, and Manchester, totaling 34 goals and 108 assists with a cumulative plus-90 rating while serving as either captain or an alternate for all five teams. Selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2008 NHL Draft, Campbell has played 42 games in the NHL with Los Angeles, Arizona, and Toronto. The native of Caledonia, Ont., will be making his first trip to the AHL All-Star Classic.

Tickets for the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield are priced at $39, $49, $59 and $99, and include admission to both the Skills Competition on Jan. 27 and the All-Star Challenge on Jan. 28. Tickets are available now at springfieldthunderbirds.com/allstar.

The 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 94 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Jake Allen, Patrice Bergeron, Ben Bishop, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Connor Hellebuyck, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Martin Jones, Jonathan Marchessault, Brandon Montour, William Nylander, Zach Parise, Mikko Rantanen, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Jason Spezza, P.K. Subban and Mats Zuccarello.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters, and staff of all 31 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2017-18, over 6 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America for the 17th year in a row.