The American Hockey League held it’s annual AHL All-Star Classic this past weekend and like its NHL All-Star Weekend counterpart, the event was a fun success. Held this year in Syracuse, New York at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena,

the Western Conference and Pacific Division were well represented from the Ontario Reign (who had just played the previous 2 nights in a row and had to fly cross-country afterwards during the night just to make this event,) with stars Peter Budaj, Sean Backman (replacing Michael Mersch), Captain Vincent LoVerde, Head Coach Mike Stothers and Reign (and original LA Kings’) mascot Kingston,





along with stars from the San Diego Gulls, Nick Ritchie and Brandon Montour.

Ryan Cowley of MakeWayForTheKings.Net and I received Media Credentials to cover the AHL All-Star weekend and decided to travel together in my SUV for an All-Star ROAD TRIP to Upstate New York for the 2 day event (which meant I had to miss my “Habs” loving, brother-in law Derno’s birthday bash for the first time ever in forever (we’ve been buddies since the seventh grade) but no worries, as guilty and bad as I felt for missing his big day, I made it up to him by getting him the autograph of “Habs” prospect and St. John’s Ice Caps player Michael McCarron so all is right in the world again!)

After checking into Syracuse, we decided to pay a visit to LA Kings’ Captain Dustin Brown‘s hometown of Ithaca, New York and check out the Ivy League, Cornell University,

(which was very cool to visit but not as cool as HHHHARRRVARRRRDDD),

and to Cass Park where “Brownie” learned to play hockey as a kid.

After our side trip to “Cap” country, we finally arrived to the War Memorial Arena and headed up to the (freezing) Media Press Box like Roman Emperors awaiting to be entertained and amused.

The first event of the AHL Classic was the traditional Skills Competition that still used the standard Western Conference vs the Eastern Conference model. The different competitions were the Puck Control Relay (which Montour participated in but he accidentally lost the puck and fell way behind), the Fastest Skater (where Backman finished a close second with a time of 14.468 to Derek Grant of the Stockton Heat’s 14.307),

the rapid fire (which both Budaj and LoVerde participated in (but not at the same time), the hardest shot (Nick Ritchie finished third with a 99.2 mph shot), the accuracy shooting, the pass and score (LoVerde and Backman teamed up with Charlotte’s Derek Ryan but were shut out by Latvian Olympic Standout and Syracuse Crunch Goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis. Montour had more luck when he set up Stockton’s Grant for a sweet goal during their run),

The final skills competition event was the breakaway relay where Ritchie was stopped by Portland’s Mike McKenna, Backman scored with a beauty of a snipe against Anthony Stolarz of Lehigh Valley and LoVerde finally figured out how to beat Gudlevskis. The (good guys) Western Conference won the day with an overwhelming score of 10-5 and coach Mike Stothers couldn’t have shown more glee or celebrated any harder than what was physically and scientifically possible!

Afterwards the players took pictures and signed autographs with fans while the AHL mascots danced in the aisle’s, all having a grand ‘ole fun time!

Day 2 started with a “State of the League” press conference by long time AHL President David Andrews. Andrews made mention that he was “pleasantly surprised” with the success and officiating of the 5 AHL teams in California, (Ontario Reign, San Diego Gulls, San Jose Barracuda, Stockton Heat and Bakersfield Condors). The Reign are among the top 3 teams in generating revenue for the league and the Gulls are having major success as well. He then mentioned that not every team in California was generating a lot of revenue but did follow that by saying that all 5 teams were “drawing” better than they were in their original locations (sorry Manchester and Norfolk).

President Andrews also made mention that the Los Angeles Kings have done an “amazing” job with the Ontario Reign and he gave props to the fan base there. Another positive for the league was that having the teams in California hadn’t cost the league “any additional costs” and that everyone was “happy with that.” The only obstacles so far was the “heavy traffic” that players and officials have to face on a regular basis and that makes it “hard to move around in California.” Overall the American Hockey League is more than pleased with the current financial and other positive results after moving 5 teams to California locations, (and why the heck not, in the end everybody is CALIFORNIA DREAMING!!!)

After the Press Conference was the 2016 AHL Hall of Fame induction ceremony but more on that in another article. Ryan and I then proceeded back to the War Memorial Arena for the anticipated AHL All-Star Challenge tournament. Unlike the NHL version which had 2 games of 3 on 3 action and then a 3 on 3 Championship game, the AHL version was different where they had 6 games in a round robin format where the first 4 minutes and a half were played 4 on 4 before changing to 3 on 3 for the final 4 minutes and a half. Then the Championship final would be played by the teams with the best record. The Pacific Division showed its fatigue by barely generating any offense in 2 straight round robin losses by losing 1-0 to the North Division and a 2-1 loss to the Atlantic Division, (with Backman scoring the only goal after a feed by Ritchie).

Despite the low score in the first game, the Pacific Division could have lost 16-0 if it wasn’t for the brilliant goaltending of Peter Budaj “The Jedi!”

Even though the Pacific Division was struggling in the Round Robin, during the intermission Kingston was competing against the other mascots in a no holds barred round of musical chairs and this may sound biased but darn it, he was stealing them chairs like a BOSS! (Bailey must have been soooo proud!)

With 2 losses and a huge goals deficit to overcome, the Pacific Division was more or less eliminated from advancing to the Championship game but for what it was worth, in their final game they finally found their legs and overcame the Central Division when Grant scored with 3.7 seconds left to give the Pacific the lead and the victory 5-4 (or so I thought it was 5-4 as I started celebrating like there was no tomorrow up in the Media Press Box by high fiving everyone, air guitaring and WOOOOing as if the Reign had just won the Calder Cup! Of course that meant I totally missed another goal by the Pacific before things were said and done. Thankfully someone on Twitter noticed my error).

Thanks Gustl! (Man, what can’t that dog do???) During my premature celebrations, I failed to notice that Brandon Montour scored an empty netter with a second to go! Oh well, 6-4 or 5-4, the Pacific had won the game and didn’t leave Syracuse empty handed. Something that I did notice was the perfect chemistry between the Gull’s Nick Ritchie and the Reign’s Sean Backman. Game 2 of the Round Robin was only a taste of their combined magic for in this final game they became an unstoppable duo, (they were like Gretzky and Kurri, well except without the friendship part! Yeah I said it, so what???)

Ritchie finished the festivities with 2 goals and an assist while Backman had a goal and 2 assists. Neither one of them produced a point without the help of the other.

Bouncing back from their defeat at the hands of the Pacific Division (or more like because of the new but short termed Gretzky and Kurri combo), the Central Division dominated the Championship game by defeating the Atlantic Division 4-0 with former Philadelphia Flyers’ goalie (and Stanley Cup finalist) Michael Leighton getting the shutout after saving all 9 shots. Chicago Wolves’ Captain Pat Cannone was awarded the MVP award and everyone left happy as this All-Star weekend hosted by the AHL was nothing short of a fun time for everyone involved, whether it be fans, players or media alike. Like the NHL with its new All-Star game format, the AHL is on to something here too.

The All-Star Classic weekend might now be over and in the books but the coverage of the event will continue as being part of the Media (#ItsOkWereTheMedia, #CantKickUsOut), Ryan and I had accessibility to the locker rooms and we were able to briefly interview Ontario Reign Coach Mike Stothers, Reign Captain Vincent LoVerde, Sean Backman, Peter Budaj “The Jedi” and the Gulls’ Nick Ritchie, as well as cover the AHL’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony which involved a former Calder Cup winning Los Angeles Kings’ prospect and also someone from my hometown! (2 Cambridge boys REPRESENTING at the AHL All-Star Game? What? What?!?) All this and more in the upcoming days ahead so keep your eyes open to CaliSports News and STAY TUNED!!!!!

*I would like to thank AHL Vice-President Jason Chaimovitch, Mario Hicks, Theresa Duarte, Marco “Derno” Medeiros and my “Bro from a different Mo” Ryan Cowley of MakeWayForTheKings.Net for their help on this article and adventure. I also want to thank the city of Syracuse for the fact that I will never look at another McDonalds, Sonic, Denny’s or Popeyes again without thinking of a creepy small town with a bizarro endless road like in some Stephen King novel! Damn you “Cuse,” DAMN YOU!!!

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal hockey and the rest of the California sports teams! All Cali, All the time!