LCS Hockey - AHL News

AHL News
by Tricia McMillan, AHL Correspondent

Okay, gang, the All-Star teams have been determined. First we list the rosters, then we nitpick over them. For the record, four players each were named to the team from Kentucky, Albany, Hartford, Philadelphia and Providence, while New Haven, Hershey, Adirondack, Portland, St. John's, Fredericton and Cincinnati managed but one apiece. It also seems apparent the coaches were trying to appease as many people as possible by naming several players to the team who are highly unlikely to actually be available for it, thus enabling them to name numerous alternates.

An 'x' indicates a player voted in by the fans, a 'c' is an honorary captain named by the league. All other players were named by the coaches, John Cunniff and Bill Barber.

PlanetUSA All-Stars

Defensemen

x-Francis Bouillon Fredericton x-Richard Brennan Hartford Zdeno Chara Lowell Jon Coleman Adirondack Chris O'Sullivan Saint John Ricard Persson Worcester Andrei Zyuzin Kentucky

Goaltenders x-Jean-Marc Pelletier Philadelphia Jim Carey Providence Robert Esche Springfield

Forwards

x-Richard Park Philadelphia x-Herbert Vasiljevs Kentucky x-Landon Wilson Providence Lubos Bartecko Worcester Jim Dowd Hamilton Ken Gernander c Hartford Sean Haggerty Lowell Ladislav Kohn St. John's Fredrik Lindquist Hamilton Valentin Morozov Syracuse Boris Protsenko Syracuse Johan Witehall Hartford

Canadian All-Stars

Defensemen

x-Dan Boyle Kentucky x-Brad Tiley Springfield Ray Giroux Lowell Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Rochester Geordie Kinnear Albany Dean Melanson Rochester Ken Sutton Albany

Goaltenders

x-Martin Biron Rochester Marc Denis Hershey Steve Passmore Hamilton

Forwards

x-Jim Montgomery Philadelphia x-Jeff Williams Albany x-Shane Willis New Haven Derek Armstrong Hartford J.P. Dumont Portland Steve Guolla Kentucky John Madden Albany Randy Robitaille Providence Martin St. Louis Saint John Andre Savage Providence Peter White c Philadelphia Bob Wren Cincinnati

We'll start with PlanetUSA, on defense. Not too many gripes here, except that apparently no one actually pays attention to the NHL. Zdeno Chara has been with the Islanders for the last six weeks, the Islanders are quite happy with him, and they traded Bryan Berard to make a place for Chara on their blue line. In short, he ain't gonna be there. Even Chara doesn't think he's going to the game. Ricard Persson is unlikely to be available for the game and will probably be replaced by teammate Rory Fitzpatrick. Zyuzin might not be available either.

Where the hell is John Nabokov? Nabokov starts my PlanetUSA All-Star team. Robert Esche has been solid, but not All-Star worthy, and Carey is way beyond prospect status. Sheesh.

John Nabokov

John Nabokov
by Meredith Martini

The forwards look pretty good. Certainly can't argue with that starting lineup. Bartecko has been in St. Louis most of the season and isn't expected back anytime soon, so look for a replacement there, possibly Jochen Hecht. Preferably Providence's Eric Nickulas, who I would have taken over Witehall without a second thought in the first place. And the wrong Hamilton forward is present - Chris Ferraro has been better than Dowd this season. However, Dowd has been recalled and probably won't be back in time, so Ferraro would make a good alternative.

Next to team Canada. The defense group is a good one, and credit to the voters for noticing Dan Boyle. The kid rocks. And with Grand-Pierre, Melanson and Tiley, so will PlanetUSA.

Marc Denis is, on a personal level, one of my favorite hockey players. And someday he's going to be a great goaltender. And he doesn't belong on the All-Star team, not this year. The only reason I can think of for his selection is, someone from Hershey had to be there. But that spot was meant for Marcel Cousineau. No argument on the other two.

Eric Houde

Eric Houde
by Meredith Martini

Argument abounds for Canadian forwards, largely because there's so bleeping many of them you could put in 25 forwards and still leave out deserving players. A spate of recent callups made the job easier, since one can argue Cameron Mann, Hnat Domenichelli and Trevor Letowski weren't going to be there anyway. If recent history holds true, Jean-Pierre Dumont won't be available either due to a one day Chicago callup, but someone from Portland has to go. Mike Kennedy and Warren Luhning cancelled each other out, but either were worthy as is Eric Houde. One player who certainly ought to be there, and isn't, is Rochester's Domenic Pittis. Look for him to get a nod as a replacement.

One person who might also get replaced is PlanetUSA coach John Cunniff. Cunniff was recently arrested in Albany, so his presence will be pending his legal status. No matter though - I will hereby predict victory for the Canadian team. No see-saw game this year either, I foresee this one as decisive. Say, 8-3 in Canada's favor. Make your own picks and check back here January 27 to see how the game actually turned out.