A light show is coming to the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. Hockey’s brightest young stars will hit the ice for the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 18 (8 p.m., NESN) and the AHL All-Star Game on Jan. 19 (6 p.m., NESN).
This year’s game will feature 12 players from the seven New England AHL teams – three Portland Pirates (Mike Weber, 2008 NHL first-round pick Tyler Ennis and former Boston College Eagle Nathan Gerbe); one Manchester Monarch (goalie Jonathan Bernier); one Lowell Devil (Tyler Eckford); two Worcester Sharks (Danny Groulx and 2007 NHL first-round pick Logan Couture); one Springfield Falcon (Charles Linglet); two Providence Bruins (Mikko Lehtonen and Andy Wozniewski); and two Hartford Wolfpack players (Bobby Sanguinetti and AHL leading scorer Corey Locke).
Other highlights include Waltham native Keith Aucoin, Belmont native Patrick Rissmiller, Boston native and former Boston University Terrier Sean Sullivan, Stowe, Vt. native Graham Mink and Natick native John Carlson, who recently scored the game-winning goal for Team USA in the gold medal game of the World Junior Championships.
The minor league midseason classic will be the 16th modern-day AHL All-Star Game, but the event actually dates back to 1942. That first game pitted the U.S. against Canada in a game to raise money for both countries’ efforts in World War II. Among those who participated in that first game were AHL Hall of Famers Les Cunningham and Eddie Shore, for whom the league’s MVP and top defenseman trophies, respectively, are named after.
The second all-star game wasn’t held until 1954. For the next six years, the defending Calder Cup champions faced off against a squad of league all-stars. After 1959, though, the game didn’t return until current league president and CEO David Andrews revived it in 1995 at the Providence Civic Center with all-stars from the league’s six Canadian teams taking on all-stars from the league’s 11 American teams.
The skills competition was added in 1996, and in 1997, the game was changed to its current format, which showcases a team of Canadian-born players versus a team of players born in the rest of the world.
Since its return in 1995, 94 percent of players who have participated in the game have gone on to play in the NHL. Thirty-seven former AHL all-stars were selected to play in next month’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver, including Team Canada’s Patrice Bergeron from the Bruins and Team USA’s Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan, Ryan Miller and Zach Parise.
Who’s next?
Stay tuned.
