One potato, two potato, three potato, four. Five potato, six potato, seven potato, AHL All-Star hockey.

Yes, the 1999 AHL All-Star Game had a remarkable resemblance to a round of hot potato, as no pass went unpicked and the turnovers were rife. Both teams played the first period like the puck was about to explode and nobody wanted to be the guy with it at the time. And when all was said and done, it was a damn good game, requiring overtime and a shootout before PlanetUSA surfaced with a 5-4 win.

After last year's run-and-gun roller-coaster ride, the AHL had, uh, suggested a little defensive effort might be in order. And both teams answered the bell, turning in a world of defensive work most notable for picking off nearly every pass attempt this side of the U.S. President. Oh yeah, and Bob Wren's charging up the ice on the rush without a stick and apparently oblivious to that fact.

Peter White by Tricia McMillan

That, and goaltending, was the story of the first period. While Canada had the better of play by a considerable margin, PlanetUSA goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier stood on his head to stop all but one of the 18 high quality, scoring chance shots flung at him. The lone mark against him came from his Phantoms teammate and Canadian captain Peter White. Canada defenseman Dan Boyle carried the puck in and was promptly double-teamed by the PlanetUSA defense, leaving White alone with the puck in front of Pelletier. Pelletier stopped White's first shot; not the second.

"I took a shot and got my own rebound and that was it," said White, who was very enthusiastically applauded by his home crowd. And with PlanetUSA sending ten reasonable shots that were handled easily by Martin Biron, Canada emerged with the 1-0 lead.

But the second period saw PlanetUSA pick up the pace, and a tremendously lucky goal. Defenseman Francis Bouillion threw the puck from the left corner to the top of the crease hoping a teammate would be there. He didn't need a teammate; Canadian Randy Robitaille tried to knock the puck down and instead directed it five-hole on a very surprised Marc Denis.

"Well, those goals, they're not keeping me from sleeping at night," Denis said later. "But that first goal was kind of cheesy."

Jon Coleman by Tricia McMillan

The resulting momentum for PlanetUSA may keep Denis up at night though, if not the news he received immediately after the game that the Avalanche had re-signed Patrick Roy. The suddenly recharged team redoubled their efforts and barely three minutes later took the lead when Landon Wilson sent a pass from behind the net right to Herbert Vasiljev's stick for a roofer. Just two minutes after that, defenseman Jon Coleman unleashed a blast from the right point that PlanetUSA captain Ken Gernander neatly deflected past Denis.

Canada, for its part, was credited with only seven shots. That doesn't count the posts and crossbars they hit. Goalie Jim Carey was quite lucky on a few shots, but surprise, surprise, the Net Detective is back, thank you. Carey flashed the form that sent him to the AHL All-Star Game four years ago and kept Canada off the scoreboard, sending the teams off with a 3-1 lead for PlanetUSA.

Maybe it was just that end of the ice, but like Biron and Carey before him, Steve Passmore didn't see much rubber. Possibly because the flow of play had turned back in the Canadians' favor and they stormed back. The first step back for Canada came in the same manner as PlanetUSA's booster - an own goal.

Martin St. Louis by Tricia McMillan

Jeff Williams flipped the puck to the slot from behind the net, where it struck PlanetUSA defenseman Rich Brennan and immediately reversed course right past goalie Robert Esche. Minutes later Martin St. Louis broke loose on a two-on-one with John Madden, and when defenseman Radoslav Suchy committed, St. Louis flipped the puck right onto the tape of Madden, who didn't miss and tied the game.

"If the defenseman gives me the shot, I take the shot," explained St. Louis, more noted for his sniping than his passing. "But I felt John was wide open. The goalie was giving him an open net."

A few minutes later the lead was changed. Steve Guolla passed the puck from behind the net to Derek Armstrong, who had camped at the right post. Armstrong slapped it at the goal and Esche handled it like a shortstop with a bad grounder, swatting and grabbing at it with his catching glove before inadvertently knocking it in the net for the go-ahead score.

Derek Armstrong by Tricia McMillan

For Armstrong, it was like trying to make a putt fall. "I was kind of wishing it in my head," said Armstrong. "I got a good pass from Guolla and threw it at the net and then knuckled it in with my mind."

Unfortunately, Armstrong then had to mind the knuckleheads - the official scorers, apparently blinded by homerism, awarded the goal to Peter White, who wasn't anywhere near the net at the time and announced same to the crowd that was nearly bonkers in admiration for the hometown hero.

"Whitey looked over at me, and says 'you're probably going to get booed when they announce your name'," laughed Armstrong, who did indeed hear the boo-birds when the change was made.

But now Canada held a 4-3 lead with less than five minutes remaining and PlanetUSA was borderline desperate. Canada frustrated all attempts by PlanetUSA to even enter their zone, until Boris Protsenko carried in the puck only to be tripped by a Canadian player. On his knees but undaunted, Protsenko poked the puck away from another Canadian player and into the reach of Coleman, who had joined the rush. Coleman carried the puck to the left corner and looked for help.

"I saw someone in the slot, so I threw it towards the net and one of them whacked it in," described Coleman. "That was actually a great play by [Protsenko], tipping the puck to me, that was the key to the play."

There were actually two PlanetUSA players camped by the crease when Coleman's pass arrived and the tip-in honors went to the left post camper, Protsenko's Syracuse teammate Valentin Morozov. And with 1:18 left, we had a tie game.

And with 17 seconds remaining in the game, believe it or not, there was a penalty call from referee Mike Leggo. For too many men on the ice. Really. PlanetUSA spent the waning seconds of regulation with Landon Wilson in the box, his second trip of the game although not responsible for this particular one.

Robert Esche by Tricia McMillan

On to overtime, where Canada charged on Esche but couldn't beat him and likewise for Passmore as the teams suddenly reverted to firewagon offense less success. With the teams still deadlocked after 65 minutes, it was time for a shootout.

The shootout was brought to us by the letter 'W'. At least it seemed that way with the first three Canadian shooters being Bob Wren, Shane Willis and Jeff Williams, abetted by PlanetUSA's submission of Wilson.

The previously stickless Wren had plenty of stick on Esche, opening up the five-hole and neatly backhanding the puck through. But he must have inspired Herbert Vasiljevs, who used a similar if less flashy move and put the puck in the same spot to even the shootout at one.

Chris Ferraro by Tricia McMillan

Esche was able to block Willis' shot with his stick, and then Wilson was likewise stonewalled by Passmore on another five-hole attempt. Esche switched to the glove to rob Williams, and then birthday boy Chris Ferraro's turn came up. Ferraro went for the five-hole on his Hamilton teammate Passmore - and made it. Now Canada had two shots at tying it up.

Randy Robitaille went next, and his shot went through Esche, dribbling slowly towards the net. Esche, realizing he hadn't gotten all of it, twisted and dove in front of the puck before clearing it away from harm. After Valentin Morozov missed on his turn, it was all up to Martin St. Louis, who had a Skills Competition-created dilemma.

"In the breakaway [skills competition] I had the same goalie, and I gave him my favorite move," said St. Louis, "and I didn't want to use the same move, I thought he'd shut me down on that one. If it had been somebody else, I would have tried the same thing I used yesterday."

Maybe he should have stuck with his favorite move, because Esche stoned him again, and the game belonged to the world, as it were, with a 5-4 final.

Chris Ferraro, not surprisingly, was named the PlanetUSA Player of the Game, and it was the second time in three years Ferraro scored the game-winning shootout goal - he also did the trick at the Saint John edition of the game in 1997. For scoring what had been the go-ahead goal, Armstrong was named the Canadian Player of the Game.

Jean-Marc Pelletier by Tricia McMillan

The MVP? Of course, the Philadelphia crowd had to be appeased and they were with the naming of Jean-Marc Pelletier as the game's number one star.

"I was talking to Martin Biron and Marc Denis, and we were saying, what are the odds of a goalie getting the MVP in an All-Star Game?" said a slightly dazed Pelletier. "You'd have to face 25 shots and make everything a save. But anybody could have had it, everybody on our team played a real fantastic game."

The crowd for that matter, was considerable if not considerate. The official attendance of 14,120 was easily the best for a minor league All-Star Game in any recent year. As in Syracuse, the crowd opted to align itself with the underdog PlanetUSA team and the chants of "USA!" were one of the few aspects of the game audible in the press box.

About the only other thing audible up there in the rafters were the chants of "Hershey s----", a chant led by Hershey mascot Cocoa Bear. Really. Otherwise it was rather like watching a television with the mute on, although that was likely a function of the building design rather than lack of crowd noise.

All in all, things went as they should. Both captains scored goals, both the veterans and the rookies had roles in the spotlight, the hometown boy was the MVP and crowd went home happy. And that's what they had in mind when they created All-Star Games.

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