AHL Belleville Senators

Balcers, Batherson Named to 2020 AHL All-Star Classic

Published on January 3, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Belleville Senators News Release


Belleville Senators forwards Rudolfs Balcers and Drake Batherson have both been named to the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport.

Balcers, who recalled by Ottawa Wednesday, went on a torrid streak for the Sens since making his season debut on Nov. 15 after injury delayed the start of his season. The Latvian tallied points in 15 straight games, a franchise record.

In 19 games this season, the 22-year-old has notched eight goals and 24 points. Balcers' 1.26 points per game average is the fourth best in the AHL for players who have skated in at least 19 games.

Batherson's sophomore season has been even more exceptional than his rookie year as the Nova Scotian is tied for first in AHL scoring with 40 points while his 28 assists lead the league. Batherson is averaging 1.25 points per game this year.

"They're obviously off to great starts," Sens head coach Troy Mann said. "Batherson is an elite player at this level and has proven that last year too. If you look at the 2019 numbers, he was first overall in the whole league so it's well deserved on his part. Rudy has been excellent too. His point total speaks for itself and he plays with a lot of detail and is a big part of our team.

"We had a number of candidates up front that easily could have been named to the team. The strength of our team is certainly our prospects up front and I think Norris and Abramov are two honourable mentions that easily could have been there as well but it's nice to see both Drake and Rudy get nominated."

Batherson was named to the AHL All-Star Classic last season along with defenceman Christian Wolanin. It's also the second appearance for Balcers as he earned the nod during 2017-18 when he was with San Jose.

"It's very special," Batherson said. "It was an honour to go last year and I've had another good start to the season this year and getting recognized for that is awesome. I've again got to give a lot of the credit to my team and the coaching staff for all the hard work they've done with me. I'm looking forward to it."

The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic takes place Jan. 26-27.

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