BY: Jason Chaimovich, AHL
SPRINGFIELD, MA – The American Hockey League announced today the playing rosters for the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield, to be held January 27-28 in Springfield, Mass.
Each of the AHL’s four divisions will be represented by 12 players. Rosters were determined by committees of AHL coaches, and all 31 AHL teams are represented by at least one All-Star.
The 2019 rosters feature 35 first-time AHL All-Stars and 13 former first- or second-round draft choices. In addition, 26 of the All-Stars named have been recalled to the National Hockey League already this season, including standouts Michael Dal Colle of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (N.Y. Islanders), Mackenzie Blackwood of the Binghamton Devils (New Jersey), Lawrence Pilut of the Rochester Americans (Buffalo), Collin Delia of the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago), Drake Batherson of the Belleville Senators (Ottawa) and Brandon Pirri of the Chicago Wolves (Vegas).
Charlotte Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci, Syracuse Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx, Iowa Wild head coach Tim Army and San Jose Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer will serve as coaches for the event.
The 2019 AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 27 (7 p.m. ET) will pit the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events.
In the 2019 AHL All-Star Challenge on Jan. 28 (7 p.m. ET), the four teams will participate in a 3-on-3, round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin will face off for the championship, a six-minute, 3-on-3 game.
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.
Atlantic Division All-Stars
D Sebastian Aho, Bridgeport Sound Tigers (1st appearance)
F Henrik Borgstrom, Springfield Thunderbirds (1st)
D Trevor Carrick, Charlotte Checkers (2nd)
F Greg Carey, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1st)
F Michael Dal Colle, Bridgeport Sound Tigers (1st)
F Ryan Fitzgerald, Providence Bruins (1st)
D John Gilmour, Hartford Wolf Pack (2nd)
F Janne Kuokkanen, Charlotte Checkers (1st)
F Colin McDonald (“C”), Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3rd)
G Sam Montembeault, Springfield Thunderbirds (1st)
D Ethan Prow, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (1st)
G Vitek Vanecek, Hershey Bears (1st)
Coach: Mike Vellucci, Charlotte Checkers (1st)
North Division All-Stars
F Drake Batherson, Belleville Senators (1st appearance)
F Alex Belzile, Laval Rocket (1st)
G Mackenzie Blackwood, Binghamton Devils (1st)
F Reid Boucher, Utica Comets (2nd)
F Cory Conacher, Syracuse Crunch (3rd)
F Zac Dalpe, Cleveland Monsters (1st)
G Connor Ingram, Syracuse Crunch (1st)
F Trevor Moore, Toronto Marlies (1st)
D Lawrence Pilut, Rochester Americans (1st)
F John Quenneville, Binghamton Devils (1st)
D Zach Redmond, Rochester Americans (2nd)
D Calle Rosen, Toronto Marlies (1st)
Coach: Benoit Groulx, Syracuse Crunch (2nd)
Central Division All-Stars
F Mason Appleton, Manitoba Moose (2nd appearance)
D Erik Brannstrom, Chicago Wolves (1st)
D Andrew Campbell (“C”), Rockford IceHogs (1st)
F Daniel Carr, Chicago Wolves (1st)
G Collin Delia, Rockford IceHogs (1st)
D Matt Donovan, Milwaukee Admirals (2nd)
F Denis Gurianov, Texas Stars (1st)
G Kaapo Kahkonen, Iowa Wild (1st)
F Jordan Kyrou, San Antonio Rampage (1st)
F Cal O’Reilly, Iowa Wild (5th)
F Brandon Pirri, Chicago Wolves (3rd)
F Chris Terry, Grand Rapids Griffins (4th)
Coach: Tim Army, Iowa Wild (1st)
Pacific Division All-Stars
F Andrew Agozzino, Colorado Eagles (2nd appearance)
D Kyle Capobianco, Tucson Roadrunners (2nd)
G Pavel Francouz, Colorado Eagles (1st)
F Joe Gambardella, Bakersfield Condors (1st)
F Conor Garland, Tucson Roadrunners (1st)
G Josef Korenar, San Jose Barracuda (1st)
F Curtis Lazar, Stockton Heat (1st)
D Jacob Middleton, San Jose Barracuda (1st)
F Francis Perron, San Jose Barracuda (1st)
F Sheldon Rempal, Ontario Reign (1st)
F Troy Terry, San Diego Gulls (1st)
D Sean Walker, Ontario Reign (1st)
Coach: Roy Sommer, San Jose Barracuda (3rd)
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.
