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2005 AHL All-Star balloting underway

Published on December 27, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... From now until January 23, American Hockey League fans logging on to theahl.com will be able to help decide which players will earn a trip to the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, to be held in Manchester on February 13-14.

Fan balloting will determine the starting lineups for both the Canadian and PlanetUSA AHL All-Star teams, and a committee of AHL coaches will help complete the rosters, which will be announced in early January. By virtue of leading Milwaukee to the Calder Cup 2004 championship, Admirals head coach Claude Noel will guide one team; the coach whose club owns the best points percentage in the AHL after play on Jan. 30 will lead the other.

The Canadian AHL All-Stars will bring a five-game winning streak into the 2005 event, and have a plethora of worthy players to choose from, as 27 of the top 30 scorers in the AHL (through Sunday) are from Canada. Leading the group are Manchester's Yanick Lehoux and Mike Cammalleri, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Michel Ouellet and Kris Beech, Binghamton's Jason Spezza, Milwaukee's Simon Gamache and Lowell's Eric Staal and Chuck Kobasew. Canadian-born goaltenders include Hartford's Jason LaBarbera, who leads the AHL in wins, GAA and save percentage, as well as Grand Rapids' Joey MacDonald, Manchester's Mathieu Garon, Edmonton's Tyler Moss and Wilkes-Barre's Marc-Andre Fleury.

The PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars, made up of players born outside Canada, appear to be strongest on defense heading into this year's Classic. Eligible blueliners include Niklas Kronwall of Grand Rapids, Brian Pothier of Binghamton, Denis Grebeshkov of Manchester, Andrew Hutchinson of Milwaukee and Dennis Seidenberg and Joni Pitkanen of Philadelphia. Among the goaltenders in the running for the three PlanetUSA roster spots are Kari Lehtonen of Chicago, Hannu Toivonen of Providence, Antero Niittymaki of Philadelphia, Adam Hauser of Manchester and Ryan Miller of Rochester. Forwards available for the PlanetUSA club include Providence's Andy Hilbert, Manchester's Dustin Brown, Philadelphia's Mark Murphy, Edmonton's Tony Salmelainen, Syracuse's Alexander Svitov and Albany rookie Zach Parise.

More than 92 percent of the players to appear in the AHL All-Star Game since 1995 have played in the National Hockey League, including Martin St. Louis, Miikka Kiprusoff, Patrik Elias, Marc Savard, Pavol Demitra, Ladislav Nagy, Steve Sullivan and Rick DiPietro.

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CAN'T GET MUCH TIGHTER ... One point is all that separates the top four teams in the North Division heading into the final week of 2004. Manitoba and Rochester are even with 38 points apiece, trailed closely by St. John's and Edmonton with 37 points each. Cleveland, meanwhile, has won five in a row to sit seven points out of the top spot.

The Moose visit the Barons for a two-game set on Monday and Tuesday, while the Amerks take on the Road Runners at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Tuesday evening. St. John's is home for a pair against Syracuse this week.

AHL REPRESENTED IN WJC ... Four AHL players are currently representing their countries at the 2005 World Junior Championships in Grand Forks, N.D., and Thief River Falls, Minn. Providence forward Patrice Bergeron recorded two goals and two assists in Canada's 7-3 win over Slovakia in the tournament opener on Christmas Day. Milwaukee defenseman Ryan Suter is serving as captain of the defending champion United States squad, and chipped in two assists in Saturday's 5-4 win over Russia.

Worcester's Konstantin Zakharov and Hamilton's Andrei Kostitsyn are playing for Belarus, which is off to an 0-2-0 start at the WJC.

OFF THE ICE ... Local product Brendan Hansen, who won three medals in swimming at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, will drop the ceremonial first puck prior to Philadelphia's game against Norfolk at the Wachovia Spectrum on Wednesday night... Houston Aeros players and doctors bought more than 700 tickets to their Dec. 23 game and donated them to local children's charities.

ETC. ... With his dad Jozef in attendance visiting from Slovakia, Peter Budaj made 50 saves in Hershey's 5-0 win over Norfolk on Sunday... Behind 45 saves from Kari Lehtonen, who is 12-2-1 in his last 15 decisions, Chicago moved into first place in the West Division with a 6-2 win over Milwaukee on Sunday... Paul Gaustad had a goal and three assists in Rochester's 5-2 win over Syracuse on Thursday... Steve Regier scored with one-tenth of a second left in regulation on Wednesday, and Bridgeport went on to a 3-2 shootout win over Philadelphia... The addition of Brian Bonin, who scored in his IceCats debut on Dec. 20, gives Worcester three former Hobey Baker Award winners on its roster (Mike Mottau, Peter Sejna)... Todd Fedoruk's goal for Philadelphia 13 seconds into Sunday's game was his first tally in the AHL since Oct. 15, 1999... Brian McGrattan recorded his first two points of the season with two goals in Binghamton's 8-2 win over Albany on Wednesday... The Senators are 10-for-31 on the power play (32.3%) in five games against the River Rats this season... Springfield has won four in a row for the first time since the 2002-03 season; the Falcons' last five-game winning streak came back in 1997-98... Manitoba goaltender Alex Auld, St. John's defenseman Regan Kelly and Norfolk forward Ajay Baines are all playing for Team Canada in the 78th Spengler Cup tournament this week in Davos, Switzerland... A capacity crowd of 16,839 fans packed Rexall Place for Edmonton's 3-2 shootout win over Hamilton last Monday night; league-wide, attendance is up 9.1 percent through 426 games in 2004-05, compared to the same number of games last season.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2004


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