Bridgeport's Cole McWard Named to 2026 AHL All-Star Classic Presented by BMO
AHL Bridgeport Islanders

Bridgeport's Cole McWard Named to 2026 AHL All-Star Classic Presented by BMO

Published on January 15, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Bridgeport Islanders News Release


Bridgeport, CT - The American Hockey League announced today the playing rosters for the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO, to be held February 10-11 in Rockford, Ill. During the announcement, Bridgeport Islanders defenseman, Cole McWard, was named to the 2026 AHL-All Star Game.

McWard, 24, hails from Fenton, Missouri and spent two seasons with Ohio State University before joining the Vancouver Canucks organization. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound blueliner spent last season with the Abbotsford Canucks where he won a Calder Cup. This year for the Bridgeport Islanders, he skated in 29 games scoring five goals and 11 assists for 16 points which leads team defenseman in scoring. McWard will represent the Atlantic Division in the All-Star game festivities.

Each of the AHL's four divisions will be represented by 12 players. Rosters were determined by committees of AHL coaches, and all 32 AHL teams are represented by at least one All-Star.

The 2026 rosters feature 43 first-time AHL All-Stars and 13 rookies, as well as 12 former first-round NHL draft choices and seven second-round picks. In addition, 30 of the All-Stars named have also played in the National Hockey League already this season, including Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Sergei Murashov; Hartford's Gabe Perreault; Lehigh Valley's Denver Barkey; Bakersfield's Quinn Hutson; San Diego's Tim Washe; Laval's Jacob Fowler and Adam Engström, Rockford's Nick Lardis and Kevin Korchinski; and Chicago's trio of Bradly Nadeau, Justin Robidas and Domenick Fensore.

Ryan Mougenel of the Providence Bruins, Pascal Vincent of the Laval Rocket, Dan Watson of the Grand Rapids Griffins and Mark Letestu of the Colorado Eagles will serve as coaches for the event.

The 2026 AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Tuesday, Feb. 10 (8 ET/7 CT) will pit the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events. In the 2026 AHL All-Star Challenge on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (8 ET/7 CT), the four teams will participate in a 3-on-3, round-robin tournament featuring six games of eight minutes each. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin will face off for the championship in a final eight-minute, 3-on-3 game. For ticket information, fans can visit icehogs.com/asc26.

The 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO also includes the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (noon ET/11 CT), highlighted by the inductions of the Class of 2026 - Chris Bourque, Alexandre Giroux, Jim Wiemer and Wendell Young - into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.

The 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 94 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Yaroslav Askarov, Drake Batherson, Jordan Binnington, John Carlson, Brandt Clarke, Lukas Dostal, Dalibor Dvorsky, Ryker Evans, Ethen Frank, Thomas Harley, Connor Hellebuyck, Joel Hofer, Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Marchessault, Jacob Markstrom, J.T. Miller, Brandon Montour, William Nylander, Kyle Palmieri, Mikko Rantanen, Dylan Strome, Devon Toews, Tyler Toffoli, Linus Ullmark, Dustin Wolf and Mats Zuccarello.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today's NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2026


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