Chirps from Center Ice

In news that should surprise no one, the AHL announced their playing rosters for the All-Star Classic later this month up in Springfield, Massachusetts and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defenseman Ethan Prow was named as the sole Penguins representative.

For you visual learners, here are the entire rosters for all four divisions in one tweet. Click to expand if you have to:

On Prow, here is a snippet from the Coal Street release mentioning some of his accomplishments….

Prow is second on the Penguins with 10 goals, and he has also earned 22 points this season. He was able to double his goal output from his previous two seasons combined by notching his 10 goals in 30 games. Prow’s 10 tallies also put him in a tie for the second-most goals among all AHL defensemen.  Furthermore, Prow is the first Penguins defenseman to have reached double digits in goal scoring at the end of December since Ross Lupaschuck (2002-03).

Prow, 26, is one of 48 players selected to AHL All-Star rosters.

Prow has consistently improved over the course of his three seasons as a pro, all of which have been spent with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He amassed 16 points (1G-15A) in his rookie year, then followed that up with four goals and 13 assists for 17 points with the Penguins in 2017-18.  He has 15 goals and 41 assists for 56 points in 139 career AHL games.

Former Penguins Colin McDonald (Lehigh Valley) and Cal O’Reilly (Iowa) were also named. McDonald was appointed as playing captain for the Eastern Conference in December.

Charlotte sends two players, plus their head coach because the Checkers finished first in the division at the end of 2018. Bridgeport, Lehigh Valley and host Springfield are sending two each and Providence, Hartford, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre are only sending one player.

Hershey’s appointment was Vitek Vanecek. I don’t know how you can send a goalie as your appointment as a last place team, but perhaps that’s just me.

Back here Friday for the 3 pm Gameday setup against Grand Rapids.