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17                                              18

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So it’s the first All-Star Classic that I have not been to since Binghamton, but I was able to watch on TV.

If by chance you were planning on watching on tape delay, come back and read this after.

The last competition of the night was the “Breakaway Relay” which is basically a shootout. One skater on one goalie.

St. John’s Captain and AHL All-Stars Captain Jason Jaffray was the final shooter for his team needing a goal to tie it. He did. It was 17-17 after regulation.

The shootout required, a shootout!

Jaffray scored in Round Three of Sudden Death, and the AHL All-Stars defeated Färjestad BK tonight by a score of 18-17.

Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins All-Star Brian Gibbons was featured in two events, fastest skater and in Breakaway Relay. Gibbons recorded the second quickest time for the AHL All-Stars with a time of 14.350 seconds. Binghamton’s Mike Hoffman won the Event with a time of 13.990. Hoffman slid at the line which caused a clock malfunction.

I’m always a fan of hardest shot. Well, Magnus Nygren from Färjestad BK recorded a shot of 104.6 mph, an AHL All-Star Skills Competition record. Best for the AHL was Rochester’s Brayden McNabb with a shot of 102.6 mph.

A couple takeaways. I’m glad Colton Sceviour plays in the Western Conference for the Texas Stars. Sceviour had some absolute snipes in the Rapid Fire Event…..Färjestad has a kid on their team. No really. A kid. He is 16 years old and his name is Oliver Kylington. He was very impressive for someone who would be a sophomore in high school playing with men, some twice his age or more…..Goal of the Night belongs to Charles Bertrand from Färjestad in the Breakaway Relay; a between the legs, back out and backhander top shelf goal on Chicago’s Jake Allen.

Here’s the SendToNews highlight package. Some other highlights and such. Bertrand’s sickening goal comes circa 1:06 of the package.

Let’s see if I am doing this right:

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Translated, if Google Translate did it right is, “Bring it On!”

Probably not, but, it’s the sprit of the Competition I suppose.

I’ll have an update tomorrow night after the All-Star Classic.

Let’s Go AHL!!!

In case you missed it: I set the table for today’s game against Hershey in Hershey.

So the NHL is on hiatus for the next two weeks because of the Winter Olympics in Russia. It’ll be good to go back to blogging up the highest level of hockey in North America for this time frame.

Wait. What’s that? The AHL is on hiatus for their own All-Star Break too? Just a week? Okay. Well, I guess I’ll make the most of what I have while I can.

Anyway, there are a slew of moves during the NHL break that are affecting East Division clubs in the AHL. We saw it firsthand yesterday with the reassignments of Jayson Megna, Brian Gibbons and Harry Zolnierczyk from Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre. Gibbons will head to St. John’s this week to represent the Penguins in the AHL All Star Classic.

As for the rest of the East Division, here’s who is on their way back down for the Olympic break, who each AHL East Division team plays and a reasonable expectation based off of who they do.

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Pittsburgh / Wilkes Barre

This trio needs no introduction. For Wilkes-Barre, the additions could not come at a better time divisionally because the next five games are against Hershey (today) Binghamton (Friday) Hershey (Saturday and Sunday) and Binghamton (next Wednesday) — Win all of them, and the Penguins are likely division leaders and in solid shape for playoffs heading into the month of March. Lose, forget about the division lead and scrape and muck with teams from 6 through 13.

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Washington / Hershey

Casey Wellman, Julien Brouillette and Patrick Wey — seemingly should be in the lineup this afternoon for the Bears. Bears get Wilkes-Barre (today) Albany (Friday) Wilkes-Barre (Saturday and Sunday) and Syracuse (next Saturday) for their next five. Bears can make a push for the division lead but have to jump over three other teams to get there. A daunting task, but nothing that the Bears can’t accomplish. A more reasonable expectation is for Hershey to solidify themselves in the Top 8 for playoffs.

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Ottawa / Binghamton

The East Division leaders got MORE offensive help earlier in the week with the return of second leading scorer Stephane Da Costa as well as Mark Stone. Binghamton gets Wilkes-Barre (Friday) Worcester (Saturday) Wilkes-Barre (next Wednesday) Hamilton (next Friday) and Utica (next Saturday) for their next five. The division leader is hoping for a Hershey win today to keep the Penguins at bay and then have to deal with the Penguins for two of their next three games with tough Worcester and Hamilton teams in there and the always surprising Utica Comets. For Binghamton, maintaining the lead in the division is crucial. If they fall back to Hershey or Norfolk, there may be no returning to the top.

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Tampa Bay / Syracuse

Defenseman J.P. Cote cleared waivers yesterday afternoon and played last night for Syracuse against Springfield, a 6-5 overtime loss for the Crunch. Kristers Gudlevskis and Vlad Namestnikov were sent back Sunday morning, but Gudlevskis is representing Latvia in the Olympics and won’t play for the Crunch. This will leave the Crunch in a bind in goal, something they have been used to in recent weeks. For Syracuse, it has to be about winning. The Crunch get Norfolk Friday and Saturday, Utica next Friday and Hershey next Saturday and Sunday. The Crunch may have to go 5-0 to even remain in the discussion for the 8 seed.

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Anaheim / Norfolk

Anaheim hasn’t yet announced who they are sending back but it is likely that leading scorer Emerson Etem will be back and will no doubt continue to help the Ads in staying in lockstep with Wilkes-Barre in trying to chase down leader Binghamton. The Admirals get Syracuse Friday and Saturday, the makeup game with Charlotte next Tuesday and then Albany and Springfield next Saturday and Sunday. Ideally, for Norfolk, separation from Hershey and Wilkes-Barre is the goal and then Binghamton will handle themselves with playing Wilkes-Barre twice. They can just win and let the Pens, Bears and B-Sens knock the snot out of each other trying to stay away from the ever dangerous Admirals.

Time, always tells.