The AHL All-Star Classic will be hosted by a non-league affiliate for the first time in its history when it visits Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 29 & 30.
Keith Aucoin of the Hershey Bears
ATLANTIC CITY — Last winter the American Hockey League’s Albany Devils played four regular-season games in Atlantic City, and this winter’s AHL All-Star Classic at Boardwalk Hall marks the first time the talent showcase has ever been hosted outside a league-affiliated city. If that’s not proof of a great first impression, what is?
One AHL (the premier developmental league of the NHL) game in A.C. last year involved the Flyers affiliate Adirondack Phantoms (who were displaced from their Philly home when the Spectrum was imploded), and this past Jan. 6, hockey fans set an AHL single-game attendance record at Philly’s Citizen Bank Park for the league’s annual Outdoor Classic. Area hockey fans have shown a keen interest in seeing the stars of the future, so 18-year AHL president David Andrews expects attendance to be strong when the Classic comes to Boardwalk Hall on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 29-30.
“Over 45,000 fans showed up for the Outdoor Classic [the AHL’s equivalent of the NHL’s Winter Classic, also held at Citizen’s Bank Park on Jan. 2],” says Andrews. “We did a lot of promotion there for the Classic in Atlantic City, and we’ve got a lot of fans coming from Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, so there’s been plenty of publicity in the Northeast Corridor about this event.”
Sunday at 3pm will feature a skills competition in seven categories among the AHL’s top stars. Monday’s All-Star Game starts 7pm at Boardwalk Hall, pitting the league’s Western Conference stars against their counterparts from the Eastern Conference. Standouts include the AHL’s leading scorer Keith Aucoin of the Hershey Bears (the Washington Capitals affiliate) and reigning AHL MVP Corey Locke of Binghamton (Ottawa Senators), both of whom will tie an AHL record with their sixth straight All-Star appearance, and Darren Haydar of the Chicago Wolves (Vancouver Canucks), the captain of the Western Conference and an AHL leading scorer. The East head coach will be Keith McCambridge of the St. John’s Ice Caps (Winnipeg Jets) and for the West it will be Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers) coach Todd Nelson.
“Generally the players who make the [AHL] All-Star roster are on the fast track to making the NHL, so there’s usually a lot of young players who are top talents in our league,” says Andrews. “Many of those who were on our All-Star roster last year are in the NHL now, so we get quite a bit of turnover. There’s some great talent there — a lot of first-round draft picks and top NHL prospects.”
The AHL All-Star Game originated in 1942 as a World War II fundraiser and reemerged in 1995 after a hiatus. Each roster has 24 players, including many who have already seen some NHL ice time at some point in their careers (including Flyers/Phantoms goalie Michael Leighton).
“In terms of the guys who’ve played in our All-Star event, 93 percent of them have made it to the NHL,” says Andrews. “And if you look at the NHL today, 85 percent of them have played in the American League. The guys in the ECHL [which the bygone Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies were part of] are striving to get their chance to play in the American League, and the guys in the American League are striving to get their change in the NHL. There’s quite a difference between the ECHL and AHL in terms skill level, size and speed. We’re bringing in some great hockey players from all over North America.”
Last year’s AHL All-Star game was a goal-scoring bonanza in the Hersheypark Arena, with the Eastern Conference beating the Western Conference 11-8.
2012 AHL All-Star Classic
When and Where: Sun. & Mon. Jan. 29-30. An All-Star Skills competition starts 3pm Sunday at Boardwalk Hall, followed by a Post-Skills party at Caesars at 5:30pm. On Monday there will be an AHL Hall of Fame induction at 11am at Caesars. The All-Star game will be 7pm Monday at Boardwalk Hall.
How Much: All-session tickets are $52 for seats on the glass, $37 for lower-level and $32 for upper-level seats. Single session tickets are $12-$16 for the Skills events (seven skills in all, including hardest shot and fastest skater) and $19-$31 for the All-Star game. Family four packs (four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks) are $79 in advance. Visit Boardwalk Hall’s box office or call Ticketmaster at 800-736-1420. For group rates call (609) 348-7023. On the Web: theahl.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The American Hockey League announced the starting lineups for the 2012 AHL All-Star Game, as determined by fans through the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic fan balloting presented by Reebok.
2012 AHL All-Star Game Starters
*not participating in event; will be replaced in starting lineup
Eastern Conference
G Michael Leighton, Adirondack
D Mark Barberio, Norfolk
D Simon Despres, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton*
F Cory Conacher, Norfolk
F Cam Atkinson, Springfield
F Keith Aucoin, Hershey
To date, more than 400 children have come through the Art Dorrington Ice Hockey Foundation, where education, opportunity and life skills are stressed as much as the sport. In 2006, the students won the Hockey in the Hood tournament in Detroit. Mr. Dorrington has been Atlantic City’s Softball Commissioner since 2002.
When she accepted the Dorothie Dorrington Award for Community Service on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Council of Black Faculty and Staff of Stockton College's annual awards, dinner and dance banquet, Gilliam surprised everyone by walking through the audience and pointing out ...
Boardwalk Hall has been honored as one of the top mid-size venues for music concerts in the world, but this time of year the Hall is known as a sports venue. The A-10 Men Basketball Tournament took place last weekend and the weekend before that it hosted the New Jersey State High School Wrestling Championships. This weekend college ice hockey is coming to the Hall.
Hockey was back at Boardwalk Hall Sunday night and a crowd that was biased against the designated “home” team, the Albany Devils, cheered on the Phantoms with enthusiasm.
When the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies left town in 2005, it was hoped that the beautiful skating venue would find a replacement team sooner than later. That never happened, but local ice hockey fans received good news when it was announced that the American Hockey League’s Albany Devils and the ECHL Trenton Devils would play a total of five games at Boardwalk Hall.
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