Big D Hockey » All-Star Game

Rapid City Awarded the 2011 CHL All-Star Game

Ben Ellis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:46:31 +0000

The Central Hockey League issued a press release late today, announcing the host city for the 2011 CHL All-Star Game will be Rapid City, SD, home of the Rapid City Rush.

CHL All-Star Teams Name Captains

Ben Ellis — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:57:07 +0000

The CHL All-Star squads have named their captains. The league released a presser about the announcement – please read on for the details:

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(Tempe, Arizona) – The Central Hockey League announced today that the Captains for the 2010 CHL All-Star Game scheduled for Wednesday, January 13 in Laredo, Texas at the Laredo Entertainment Center. The game will feature a South Texas All-Star Team comprised of players from Laredo, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley versus a CHL All-Star Team featuring a team of players from the remaining 12 CHL teams. The Captain for the South Texas team will be Laredo’s Jeff Bes and for the CHL Team, Colorado’s Riley Nelson will wear the ‘C’.

Bes is playing in his fourth all-star game (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010) and is a two-time CHL Most Valuable Player (2004, 2008). The Tillsonburg, Ontario native currently leads the Bucks in scoring with 38 points (11-27=38).

The two Alternate Captains (‘A’) for the South Texas team will be Justin Quenneville of Corpus Christi and Jesse Bennefield of Rio Grande Valley.

Nelson is playing in his third all-star game (2007, 2009, 2010) and was a member of the 2009 All-CHL Team. The Cranbrook, British Columbia native is currently second in the CHL in scoring with 48 points (18-30=48) and is second with a +23 plus/minus rating.

The two gentlemen wearing the ‘A’ sweaters for the CHL Team will be Mississippi’s Derek Landmesser and Colorado’s Aaron Schneekloth.

Two Texas Stars in AHL All-Star Game

Ben Ellis — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:32:49 +0000

In addition to the news of the CHL All-Star Game rosters, there were also announcements about the AHL All-Star Classic rosters this last week. Two Texas Stars players have been named to the rosters, one for each team. The AHL All-Star Game format will consist of a “Canadian All-Star Team”, featuring all Canadian-born players, versus a “PlanetUSA All-Star Team”, which will be comprised of players from all other nationalities.

Brent Krahn, the Texas Stars goalie, will suit up for the Canadian All-Stars, while Ivan Vishnevskiy will be on the blue line for the PlanetUSA All-Stars. The team put out press releases for both announcements, as they happened on separate days. Please see them both below:

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Cedar Park, TX – The American Hockey League announced Tuesday that Texas Stars goalie Brent Krahn has been selected to play for the Canadian All Star team in the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic in Portland, Maine on Jan. 18 and 19.

Krahn becomes the first player in team history to be named to the mid-season classic. The 27-year old earns the first all-star nomination of his career. This is the second honor for the Stars goalie in less than a month after he was named the AHL Reebok Goalie of the Month for November.

In 12 appearances with Texas this season, Krahn has posted a record of 10-2-0 with three shutouts and he leads the league with a 1.41 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage, allowing just 17 goals on 402 shots overall.

A first-round draft pick (ninth overall) by Calgary in 2000, Krahn is 87-67-14 with 16 shutouts in 180 career AHL games. The 27-year-old Winnipeg native made his NHL debut with Dallas last season, appearing in one contest. Krahn has not played since a 3-1 loss in Chicago on Nov. 22. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound goalie has missed the Stars last 14 games due to injury.

The Canadian All Star team is comprised of 24 players – 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders – born in Canada. AHL fans determined the starting lineup via on-line balloting at www.theahl.com, while a committee of AHL coaches selected the remainder of the roster.

The PlanetUSA AHL All-Star team roster will be announced on Wednesday.

The 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic will feature the top talent in the American Hockey League competing in the 2010 AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Monday, January 18 (8:00 p.m. ET) and the 2010 AHL All-Star Game on Tuesday, January 19 (6:00 p.m. ET), and will be televised live nationally in the United States and Canada. Of the 492 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since 1995, more than 94 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes, Dan Boyle, Daniel Briere, Brian Campbell, Zdeno Chara, Rick DiPietro, Miikka Kiprusoff, Kari Lehtonen, Ryan Miller, Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan, Martin St. Louis, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal and Tomas Vokoun.

Tickets for the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic – which include admission to both the Skills Competition and the AHL All-Star Game as well as an official commemorative All-Star Classic event program – are $49 (rows 1-12 in all sections) and $42 (rows 13-24 in all sections). To purchase tickets call (207) 775-3458, visit the Cumberland County Civic Center Box Office or go on-line at portlandpirates.com.

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Cedar Park, TX – The American Hockey League announced on Wednesday that Texas Stars defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy has been selected to play for the PlanetUSA All-Star team in the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic in Portland, Maine on Jan. 18 and 19.

Vishnevskiy has played in 35 games for Texas this season, scoring four goals and adding nine assists for 13 points. His eight power-play assists are tied for the team lead. The 21-year old also played in the NHL for Dallas this season, going scoreless in two games the parent club. Vishnevskiy was Dallas’ first round selection (27th overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The Barnaul, Russia native is in his second pro season after playing the bulk of his rookie year in Peoria. In 67 games for the Rivermen, the 6-foot, 180-pound defenseman dished out 13 assists and totaled 19 points. Vishnevskiy also made his NHL debut in 2008-09, suiting up three times for Dallas and setting up two goals. The defenseman recorded his first NHL point in only his second NHL game on April 9, 2009.

Vishnevskiy joins Texas goalie Brent Krahn as the only two Stars selected for the All-Star Game. Krahn will suit up for Team Canada and play against Vishnevskiy in the game on Jan. 19.

The PlanetUSA team is comprised of 24 players – 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders – born outside of Canada; the Canadian team was announced on Tuesday. AHL fans determined the starting lineups via on-line balloting at www.theahl.com, while a committee of AHL coaches selected the remainder of the rosters. All 29 AHL teams are represented by at least one All-Star.

A CHL All-Star Game Update

Ben Ellis — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:42:45 +0000

The 2010 CHL All-Star Game will take place in Laredo, TX, in just under two weeks. This year’s format will feature a South Texas All-Star team (with players from Laredo, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley) hosting a CHL All-Star team (featuring players from all other CHL teams). This last week brought the announcement of the starting line-ups, and then reserves for the CHL All-Star team as well as the South Texas All-Star team. There will be a lot of Texas All-Stars on the ice for the drop of the puck, as the CHL All-Stars’ starting lineup features three players from Texas CHL teams (two from Odessa and one from Allen). Here are the starting line-ups as well as the reserves for both teams:

2010 CHL All-Star Team Starters
Position- Player (Team), Appearance
Forward- Rob Hisey (Tulsa), 1st
Forward- Riley Nelson (Colorado), 3rd
Forward- Justin Bowers (Allen), 1st
Defenseman- Aaron Schneekloth (Colorado), 4th
Defenseman- Alex Dunn (Odessa), 1st
Goaltender- Joel Martin (Odessa), 1st

2010 CHL All-Star Team Reserves
Position- Player (Team), Appearance
Forward- Bruce Graham (Allen), 1st
Forward- Les Reaney (Rapid City), 1st
Forward- Dominic Leveille (Odessa), 4th
Forward- Jordan Cameron (Texas), 1st
Forward- Jeff Christian (Missouri), 4th
Forward- Kevin Ulanski (Colorado), 2nd
Defenseman- Jim Jorgensen (Wichita), 1st
Defenseman- Derek Landmesser (Mississippi), 7th
Defenseman- Andrew Smale (Amarillo), 1st
Defenseman- Jon Landry (Arizona), 1st
Goaltender- Ken Carroll (Bossier-Shreveport), 6th
Goaltender- Danny Battochio (Rapid City), 1st

2010 South Texas All-Star Starters
Position- Player (Team), Appearance
Forward – Darryl Smith (Laredo), 2nd
Forward – Justin Quenneville (Corpus Christi), 2nd
Forward – Jesse Bennefield (Rio Grande Valley), 1st
Defenseman – Nathan Ansell (Rio Grande Valley), 1st
Defenseman – Adam Rivet (Laredo), 2nd
Goaltender – J.P. Levasseur (Laredo), 1st

2010 South Texas All-Star Team Reserves
Position- Player (Team), Appearance
Forward- Jeff Bes (Laredo), 4th
Forward- Evan Schwabe (Laredo), 1st
Forward- Ryan Garbutt (Corpus Christi), 1st
Forward- Jereme Tendler (Corpus Christi), 1st
Forward- Sean Muncy (Rio Grande Valley), 1st
Forward- Grant Goeckner-Zoeller (Rio Grande Valley), 1st
Defenseman- Jarred Mohr (Laredo), 1st
Defenseman- Jason Tessier (Corpus Christi), 5th
Defenseman- Kyle Peto (Corpus Christi), 1st
Defenseman- Tom Sawatske (Rio Grande Valley), 1st
Goaltender- Kevin Nastiuk (Corpus Christi), 1st
Goaltender- Andy Franck (Rio Grande Valley), 3rd

2010 CHL All-Star Game Coaches Named

Ben Ellis — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:37:19 +0000

We now know who will be coaching both conferences in the CHL All-Star Game next month, which will be played on January 13th in Laredo, TX. This year’s format pits a South Texas All-Star team, made up of players from Laredo, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley, against an All-Star squad comprised from the remaining teams.

The Northern Conference will be coached by Colorado Eagles’ boss, Kevin McClelland. Laredo Bucks head coach, Terry Ruskowski, will be the coach for the South Texas All Stars. The press release below was issued by the Bucks, and has some further details:

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LAREDO, TX- The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced Wednesday the coaching staffs for the 2010 CHL All-Star Game scheduled for Wednesday, January 13, 2010 in Laredo, Texas at the Laredo Entertainment Center. This year’s format features an all-star team representing South Texas (comprised of players from Laredo, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley) taking on a team of CHL All-Stars (comprised of players from the remaining 12 teams). Leading the CHL team will be Colorado’s Kevin McClelland and leading the South Texas team will be Laredo’s Terry Ruskowski with help from assistant co-coaches Brent Hughes from the Corpus Christi IceRays and Chris Brooks from the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

McClelland will coach in the game for the second consecutive season thanks to his team’s .820 win percentage through Tuesday’s games. The Eagles have won eight straight games and currently lead the Northern Conference. Last season, McClelland coached the Colorado Eagles team in the All-Star Game that featured the unique format of the host team, the Eagles, taking on a team of CHL All-Stars. Colorado and McClelland won the game 8-4 in the Budweiser Events Center. The Eagles coach is in his second season with the team and his fifth in the CHL. He has compiled an impressive 165-96-20 record during his combined time with the Eagles and the Mississippi RiverKings.

Ruskowski is in his eighth season with the Bucks coaching in his third All-Star Game. For both Hughes and Brooks, it will be their first CHL All-Star Game appearances as coaches.

The playing roster for the teams will be announced beginning on Monday, December 28 with the announcement of the South Texas starters and the CHL All-Stars will be announced on Tuesday, December 29.

2009 CHL All-Star Game Reserves Announced

admin — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:33:00 +0000

One day after announcing the starters for the 2009 Central Hockey League (CHL) All-Star game, scheduled for Wednesday, January 14th at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado, the Central Hockey League (CHL) has named the 12 reserves for the game that will feature a CHL All-Star Team facing the host team, Colorado Eagles. The reserves were selected by the two co-coaches (Doug Sauter of Oklahoma City and Paul Gillis of Odessa).

Making his seventh appearance, most among any player on the team, is Bossier-Shreveport’s Travis Clayton who recently set the CHL record for career games played. Joining Clayton as a reserve for the team is former long-time teammate Jason Duda of Wichita who played alongside Clayton for 11 seasons with the Thunder.

Another reunion among the reserves features Tulsa’s Jeff Christian and Corpus Christi’s Chris Richards who played together for two seasons with the Youngstown SteelHounds (2005-07). During the 2006-07 season both Christian and Richards eclipsed the 100-point mark and both were finalists for the league Most Valuable Player award eventually won by Christian and both were named to the All-CHL Team.

A pair of Odessa Jackalopes (the top team in the Southern Conference) were named as reserves, forward Dominic Leveille (the CHL’s leading scorer with 47 points) and defenseman Russ Moyer (tied for the league lead among defensemen with 30 points).

Also named as reserves for the team are forwards Louis Dumont of Mississippi, Daymen Rycroft of Rocky Mountain along with defensemen Aaron MacInnis of New Mexico, Nicolas Dumoulin (the lone rookie reserve on the team) of Rio Grande Valley and Tyler Fleck of Oklahoma City.

The back-up goaltender in the game will be Laredo’s Sebastien Centomo who is 11-7-1 with a 2.46 goals against average.

The starters for the game were announced on Tuesday with forwards Joel Irving (Arizona), Rich Hansen (Rapid City) and Darryl Smith (Laredo) joining defensemen Justin Kinnunen (Texas) and Sam Ftorek (Amarillo) and goaltender Andy Franck (Oklahoma City) comprising the voted-in starting crew.

2009 CHL All-Star Reserves
Position Player Team/Appearance
Forward Travis Clayton Bossier-Shreveport/7th
Forward Daymen Rycroft Rocky Mountain/2nd
Forward Chris Richards Corpus Christi/6th
Forward Jeff Christian Tulsa/3rd
Forward Dominic Leveille Odessa/3rd
Forward Jason Duda Wichita/4th
Forward Louis Dumont Mississippi/1st
Defenseman Aaron MacInnis New Mexico/1st
Defenseman Russ Moyer Odessa/1st
Defenseman Tyler Fleck Oklahoma City/2nd
Defenseman Nicolas Dumoulin Rio Grande Valley/1st
Goaltender Sebastien Centomo Laredo/3rd

2009 CHL All-Star Game Starters Announced

Ben Ellis — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Admin note: This was information was released yesterday – sorry for the delay in passing it along. Judging by comments, no one has been too distressed about any delays thus far…

The 2009 Central Hockey League (CHL) All-Star game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 14th at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado and Tuesday the CHL announced the starting line-up for the CHL All-Star Team that is scheduled to play the host team, Colorado Eagles. The starters were selected following completion of balloting among all CHL Head Coaches, Communications Departments and selected media members in each market. There were 50 total ballots cast in the voting process.

The top vote getter was Oklahoma City goaltender Andy Franck who received 37 of the 50 goaltender votes. As a result, he will start between the pipes for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Reminderville, Ohio native was voted the starter for the Northern Conference while a member of the Youngstown SteelHounds. Franck is 10-4-3 this season with a 2.06 goals against average.

The starting forwards are Arizona’s Joel Irving, Rapid City’s Rich Hansen and Laredo’s Darryl Smith. Irving appeared on 26 of the ballots representing the top vote-getting forward. He is among the league leaders with 41 points and 21 goals for the defending Ray Miron President’s Cup champions. Hansen leads the expansion Rush in scoring with 39 points (13-26=39) and was named the Sher-Wood/CHL Player of the Month for October. Smith (called up to the AHL’s Houston Aeros earlier today) leads all rookies in scoring with 38 points and is tops among first-year players with 19 goals.

The starting defensemen are Amarillo’s Sam Ftorek who led all blueliners with 21 votes. He is tied among all defensemen with 30 points (11-19=30) on the season. Joining Ftorek on defense will be Texas’ Justin Kinnunen who has five goals and 10 assists on the season and is tied for the Brahmas team lead with a +10 plus/minus rating.

2009 CHL All-Star Starters
Position Player Team Appearance
Forward Joel Irving Arizona 1st
Forward Rich Hansen Rapid City 2nd
Forward Darryl Smith Laredo 1st
Defenseman Justin Kinnunen Texas 2nd
Defenseman Sam Ftorek Amarillo 1st
Goaltender Andy Franck Oklahoma City 2nd