AHL Announces All-Star Roster Changes
Today the American Hockey League announced some changes to rosters for the upcoming All-Star Game and Skills Competition. As in the case with any All-Star games, some players are just physically unable to participate due to injuries that they have sustained. Other players that were slated to participate in this All-Star Game for the AHL are currently playing in the NHL. There were seven changes to the Eastern Conference roster and three changes to the roster from the West.
In the Eastern Conference, the AHL announced today that Andre Benoit (Binghamton Senators), Alexandre Bolduc (Portland Pirates), Chris Bourque (Providence Bruins), Peter Holland (Norfolk Admirals), Tim Kennedy (Worcester Sharks), Tomas Kundratek (Hershey Bears), and Zach Redmond (St. John’s IceCaps) will all be unavailable. Instead, taking their places will be Emerson Etem (Norfolk Admirals), Eric Gryba (Binghamton Senators), Radko Gudas (Syracuse Crunch), Bracken Kearns (Worcester Sharks), Derek Meech (St. John’s IceCaps), Jamie Tardiff (Providence Bruins), and Jeff Taffe (Hershey Bears).
In the Western Conference, the AHL announced the following three players would not able to participate in the All-Star Classic: Brendan Gallagher (Hamilton Bulldog), Mike Kostka (Toronto Marlies), and Brett Sterling (Chicago Wolves). Instead, fans will see Gabriel Dumont (Hamilton Bulldogs), Matt Frattin (Toronto Marlies), and Brad Hunt (Chicago Wolves) compete for the West instead.
Each of the 30 AHL teams still have at least one player representing them at the games with the replacements announced today. The AHL plays games through Saturday, January 26th. The All-Star Classic kicks off in Providence, RI with the Skills Competition on Sunday, January 27th and concludes with the All-Star Game on Monday, January 28th. Normal play will resume for the AHL on Thursday, January 31st.
