While the countdown to the lighting of the torch continues, the next best group of pro hockey players will be gathering in Portland, Maine, this holiday weekend for the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic.
It begins with the skills competition Monday at 8 p.m., followed by the All-Star Game itself on Tuesday night.
Players from around the world will gather for the two-day event. While each and every one of them would rather be in the NHL, they all realize that they will be lining up along some of the best prospects, and best players, in the game.
Graham Mink, who grew up in Stowe, Vt., before playing for the UVM Catamounts, will serve as captain of the team called "PlanetUSA." (The AHL All-Star format calls for a team made up of native Canadians to face a team made up of players from the rest of the world.) Not many Vermont natives have gone on to play pro hockey, but Mink has made a career in the game, now in his seventh pro season. He will play in his first mid-winter AHL classic.
"I'm looking forward to the whole thing," said Mink. "I've talked to people who have been part of the All-Star Classic before, and they all have great things to say. They say it's a lot of fun. I'm personally looking forward to seeing other players from other teams, guys that I've played with and against. I've got some friends who are going to be there, so I look forward to seeing them and hanging out with them, and beating a couple of them who are playing for the Canadian team."
Whether you're talking Triple-A baseball or AHL hockey, minor league sports are dependent on ticket revenues to survive, so AHL teams need to play games on the weekend. That means the All-Star Classic is held on a Monday and Tuesday, not a Saturday and Sunday. It also means some players will be hustling to get to the Old Port.
Like former Boston University captain Sean Sullivan, who plays for the San Antonio Rampage. Sullivan's squad has a home game Sunday afternoon against the Toronto Marlies. He'll hop on a commercial flight and get in town some time Sunday night — or Monday morning.
Former Boston College star Nathan Gerbe, who just two years ago was the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Frozen Four, will have an easier time of it. In his second pro year, last season's AHL Rookie of the Year will get to sleep in his own bed as a member of the Portland Pirates. Unless he gets called up to Buffalo.
Last year, he was selected to play in the All-Star Game but missed the event in Worcester because of an injury. He went on to score 56 points in 57 regular-season games, and also to learn what it means to be a professional.
"I think the biggest adjustment from college to the pros is the amount of games and the mental battle that the game is," said Gerbe. "The most that we played in college, I think, was about 42 games. Here, you play 80 games, so it's a lot different and the trips are a lot longer sometimes. Mentally, it's a grind. I think I've adjusted pretty well, but some games you're just tired and have to try to find some way to help the team.
"In college there are some good players, but whenever you step up a level there are better players," Gerbe added. "Guys are a lot stronger, and obviously there are some older guys here, so it's going to be a lot different."
Gerbe has had a dozen games with the Sabres, and has had to prove himself against the best. Starting Monday, at his home rink, he'll be among the best to play in a non-Olympic All-Star Game this winter.
