The AHL All-Stars Are Coming To Town

The War Memorial in Syracuse is getting an exciting event, sure to bring a huge crowd. The American Hockey League All-Star Classic. This features the best players in the AHL, showcasing their stick-skills, and their net-minding. The fantastic weekend is coming to Syracuse on January 31, and will conclude on February 1.

The first day consists of the classic “Skills Competition,” where skaters and goalies will compete to be the best (and sometimes funniest) at their top skill. They’ll do skills from shootout-shots, to hardest slap-shots, puck-control relays, fastest skater, “rapid fire” saves, accuracy shooting, 3-on-1 passing and shooting, and breakaway goal shooting.

Some of the skills presented are moves you will never see in a real game, because it’d just be stupid to attempt such a skill while trying to score the game-winning goal.

The second day consists of a round-robin tournament. You will have all-stars from each division (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific) face each other in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 games. Each game will be nine minutes long. The 4-on-4 will last for 4:30, and the 3-on-3 will last for 4:30 as well.

In game one, you’ll have the Atlantic versus the Central, while the North take on the Pacific in game two. Game three will have the North and Central; the fourth game contains the Atlantic and the Pacific. Game five: Atlantic against the North, and game six, the Central takes on the Pacific.

After all six games are played, the two teams with the best overall records will face off in a championship game! This game will be played 3-on-3, and will last for six minutes.

The Syracuse Crunch will be represented not only by their home rink, but by three players as well. Goalie, Kristers Gudlevskis; defensemen, Matt Taormina; and Forward (Captain), Mike Angelidis.

There will also be some local faces from around central New York including: Atlantic Division’s head coach, Jay Leach from Syracuse and Pat Cannone (Forward, Chicago Wolves) from Bayport, New York (Long Island area).

Four local youth hockey players will also be competing in the Skills Competition right next to the AHL All-Stars. 14-year-old Jimmy Rayhill from New Hartford, 13-year-old Ryan Kirwan from DeWitt, 14-year-old Johnny Beecher from Elimra, and 13-year-old Luke Tuch from Baldwinsville.
The weekend should be exciting, and hockey fans from around the area will be pouring in, to see the best of the best in the American Hockey League. From skills, to actual competition, what more could a hockey fan want?