ECHL Kalamazoo Wings

Cleaver's All-Star Bound

December 31, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kalamazoo Wings News Release


Kalamazoo, MI- The Kalamazoo Wings, proud member of the ECHL and affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, announce forward Rick Cleaver has been selected to participate in the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario.

Currently on loan to the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch, Cleaver leads the K-Wings in scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 26 games and ranks seventh in the ECHL in total points.

The native of Port McNeil, British Columbia's on-ice performance has earned him two trips to the AHL. Besides Syracuse, Cleaver has also seen time with the Hershey Bears.

Cleaver, who has generated point streaks of five or more games on three different occasions this year for Kalamazoo, is currently on a K-Wings season-high nine-game point streak (12/04/09-present).

The trip to Ontario, California will be Cleaver's first all-star appearance in his professional career.

The 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario will be hosted by the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena and played on January 20, 2010 while the 2010 ECHL All-Star Skills Competition will be held on January 19, 2010.

There are 11 rookies on the American Conference and 19 of the 21 players are making their first appearance in an ECHL All-Star Game.

There have been 58 players from the All-Star Game who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 33 since 2002 when the lineups began having players who coaches felt were prospects to move up to a higher level.

The starting lineups are determined in voting by American Conference coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members. Coaches also submitted the top prospects from within their conference to determine the final roster with each of the 12 teams having a representative.

The third class will be inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame on January 20, 2010 during a luncheon ceremony at the Hilton Ontario Airport, the official host hotel of the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game presented by Reebok Hockey and brought to you by Toyota and the City of Ontario. The featured speaker at the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon will be Hockey Hall of Fame member and Los Angeles Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 each or a table with seven tickets can be purchased for $250. The Ontario Reign is offering a special ticket package that includes a ticket to the ECHL Hall of Fame luncheon, the All-Star Skills Competition, the Fan Fest at Dave & Busters and the ECHL All-Star Game for only $75. To purchase tickets visit OntarioReign.com/team/allstar/ or telephone the Ontario Reign at (909) 941-7825.

The K-Wings will conclude their season-high eight-game home stand versus the Cincinnati Cyclones tonight with a 7:30 p.m. face-off during the 8th Annual New Year's Eve Bash Presented by Cool 101 and WMMT News Channel 3.

Fans who purchase tickets for the game on December 31st will receive FREE admittance to both the public skate and oldies dance following the contest. Due to limited skate rentals, the K-Wings encourage fans to bring their own skates.

Single-game tickets for any regular season home game are currently on sale at the Wings Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call Wings Stadium Ticket Office during regular business hours at (269) 345-5101.

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ECHL Stories from December 31, 2009


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