This weekend the best and brightest of the AHL arrive in San Jose for the 2024 All Star Classic Presented By Tech CU. As the home team, the Pacific Division has a lot to live up to in both the Skills Competition and the round-robin tournament, so let’s get into what the roster looks like, and how they could perform this weekend!
Previously on…
The Pacific Division started out strong at the Skills Competition, with Seth Griffiths of Bakersfield winning his round of the Puck Control Relay, but it wasn’t to be, as he was the only victor out of the Division, as the East beat the West 16-10, with all but one of those 10 points coming from Central Division players.
They more than made up for it in the tournament the next day, however. The Pacific Division would go unbeaten in the round robin, with a 2-2 tie against the North Division, a 6-2 victory over the Atlantic Division, and a 5-2 victory over the Central Division, before beating the Atlantic Division in a 1-0 Championship game. Calgary’s Dustin Wolf and San Diego’s Lukas Dostal shared MVP honours, allowing only seven goals between the duo all tournament. Ontario’s TJ Tynan led all players in scoring with three goals and three assists, and Griffith scored five goals to add to his weekend accolades.
Meet The Players
Arshdeep Bains, F, Abbotsford Canucks (1st Appearance)
Bains is having an excellent season for the Canucks, and is currently tied for 6th in league scoring with 9 goals and 29 assists. He has a full 13 points more than anyone else on the Canucks, and has already tied his career high of 39 points (set last year). This is his first AHL All Star appearance, but likely won’t be his last.
Brandt Clarke, D, Ontario Reign (1st Appearance)
What a season Clarke is having in Ontario. As a rookie defenceman, he is fourth on the team in scoring, only 2 points behind leader Tynan but having played 12 fewer games. Similarly, he’s behind only fellow All
Stars Logan Stankoven and Samu Tuomaala in rookie scoring, having played 9 and 12 fewer games, respectively. He’s also tied for the league lead for defencemen, and he’s doing all of this as a twenty year old rookie. If that wasn’t enough, he made his NHL debut last month.
Matt Coronato, F, Calgary Wranglers (1st Appearance)
With the extended absence of names like Jakob Pelletier (injured) and Walker Duehr (called up), there was a gap for Coronato to be The Guy on the Wranglers this season, and he’s doing that for sure. He’s got 31 points in 29 games to lead the team, and he’s a big part of why the Wranglers have been so strong this season. Another rookie in what is an outstanding crop this season, look for him to make an impact this weekend in the round robin tournament.
Ryker Evans, D, Coachella Valley Firebirds (2nd Appearance)
Making his second appearance, Evans is practically a veteran of the ASC among all these first time players. With 14 points in 24 games so far this season, he isn’t having the flashiest year, but he’s become a staple of the line-up for head coach Dan Bylsma. Of the Firebirds D, only Cale Fleury has more points, with 20, but he’s also played 16 more games than Evans.
Raphael Lavoie, F, Bakersfield Condors (1st Appearance)
Lavoie has some big shoes to fill as Bakersfield’s All Star, after Griffith’s five goal performance last year, but he’s having a very solid season for the Condors thus far, with 22 points in 30 games. He’s on pace to eclipse his previous season high of 45 points in 61 games, and with 13 of those 22 points being goals, look for him to hit the scoresheet at least once this weekend.
Riley Tufte, F, Colorado Eagles (1st Appearance)
A newcomer to the Pacific Division, Tufte comes to us from four seasons in the Central Division, and with 27 points in 35 games, he’s set to beat his career high by almost 20 points this season. He’s leading all Eagles forwards in scoring, and is only two points behind the team leader, defenceman Brad Hunt, who has played 5 more games.
Matthew Villalta, G, Tuscon Roadrunners (1st Appearance)
No goalie in the AHL has more wins than Villalta this season, as his record of 21-10-1 speaks for itself. He’s also faced more shots, made more saves and played more minutes than any other goalie in the league, and he’s doing all this with a .912% and a 2.59 GAA. He’s a huge part of why the Roadrunners are sitting second in the Pacific Division right now.
Dustin Wolf, G, Calgary Wranglers (2nd Appearance)
Wolf has a solid argument to be the best goalie in the AHL this year. Last year, he was named the AHL MVP, and he’s back at it again this year, with a .926%, a 2.32 GAA, and a record of 17-7-2. He hasn’t played as much as Villalta this year, due to a spell in the NHL with the Flames, but he’s still fourth among goalies in minutes played, so it’s safe to say that the Wranglers are going to continue to lean hard on their young star as they fight to retake their hold of the Pacific Division.
Olen Zellweger, D, San Diego Gulls (1st Appearance)
Yet another impressive rookie, Zellweger has 25 points in 34 games for the Gulls, and has been a bright spot for this team. Like Clarke, he made his NHL debut this season, and is going to be a force for the Ducks organisation for years to come.
Shakir Mukhamadullin, D, San Jose Barracuda (1st Appearance)
The first of three injury replacements, Mukhamadullin has been maybe the best Barracuda this season. He has 26 points in 39 games and scored his first NHL goal last week with the Sharks. AHL fans should probably enjoy his appearance at the ASC, because I suspect it’ll be his last appearance in the AHL for some time.
Grigori Denisenko, F, Henderson Silver Knights, (1st Appearance)
Denisenko should arguably have been named the Silver Knights representative from the beginning. Denisenko has 37 points, 9 points above anyone else on the team, and is tied for 7th in league scoring. He’s already set a new career high with those 37 points, and the sky is the limit for this young player in his first season in Henderson.
Josh Doan, F, Tuscon Roadrunners (1st Appearance)
Does the Pacific Division have the best crop of rookies in the AHL? Perhaps, as another injury replacement, Doan, is proving that he’s not just his father’s son. Doan has 28 points this season, tied with Dylan Guenther, and is among the league leaders for rookies (7th).
Adam Cracknell, F, Henderson Silver Knights (1st Appearance)
Cracknell is injured and will be unable to play, but will be attending anyway and acting Captain of the Division. The oldest player in the league, Cracknell could have been content with being a veteran presence on a young AHL team, but instead he’s second on the team in scoring, and is on pace for 48 points, only five behind his career high.
Named but unable to attend: Danil Guschin (Barracuda), Dylan Guenther (Roadrunners)
Meet The Coach
The All Star coaches are determined by the team with the best record on December 31. This year that coach was Trent Cull of the Calgary Wranglers. Cull is in his first season with Calgary, and though they’re currently 3rd in the Division, his record of 23-14-3 is impressive.
Potential line-up
Unlike the other teams, the Pacific Division doesn’t have any teammates who play the same position for an easy match-up. Only Calgary and Tuscon have multiple representatives, and one of them is a goalie for both. Nevertheless, let’s put some potential combos together.
Bains-Tufte-Clarke
Doan-Denisenko-Zellweger
Lavoie-Coronato-Evans/Mukhamadullin
Bold Predictions
Let’s get bold.
- Clarke leads the team in scoring during the tournament with 5+ points.
- Wolf retains his All Star MVP title
- Coronato takes on the accuracy shooting challenge and crushes it.
Where To Watch
While the activities all begin on Sunday afternoon in San Jose, all the fanfare starts on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3 when all the fans start arriving. It will be available for viewing on TSN, NHL Network and on AHLTV. The skills competition will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, and the All-Star Classic will take place on Monday at 9 p.m. ET.
