The 2025 AHL All-Star Classic has come and gone. The Central Division won the Championship game 2-1 in a shootout over the Atlantic Division. Furthermore, the Eastern Conference won the Skills Competition 19-13 over the Western Conference. In the middle of it all, Michael DiPietro of the Providence Bruins showed out for the Atlantic Division. He proved why he leads the American Hockey League (AHL) in goals against average (GAA) with a 1.91.
Let’s talk about the weekend that was for Dipietro.
Hey DiPietro, You’re an All-Star
Before the All-Star Classic games on Monday night (Feb. 3), the AHL held the Skills Competition on Sunday night (Feb. 2). DiPietro was involved in the Fortune Tires
Rapid Fire, Silvercrest Pass and Score, and the Upper Deck Breakaway Relay.
During the three events that featured the netminders, he made eight saves and only allowed two goals in the Fortune Tired Rapid Fire. He stopped 80 percent of the 10 shots from Ty Mueller and Cole Guttman in the slot. The Silvercrest Pass and Score saw DiPietro stop two of the three attempts from Ryan Suzuki, Austin Watson, and Sam Colangelo. Finally, the third event for him to shine in was the Upper Deck Breakaway Relay. Against the Western Conferences’ Jani Nyman, Jacob MacDonald, Brendan Gaunce, Grigori Denisenko, and Joakim Kemell, he stopped all five shots.
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After it was all said and done with the Eastern Conference winning the Skills Competition, DiPietro and Toronto Marlies Dennis Hildeby shared CCM Top Goaltender honors by stopping 15 of 18 shots each over three goaltending events. If that does not prove why DiPietro should get his flowers for the season he is having, then wait until the second half of the AHL season.
All-Star Classic Games
After the skills competition, all eyes turned to the 3v3 round-robin games and the Championship Game for bragging rights. In the first game against the Central Division, DiPietro played the whole game with 10:06 of ice time. He stopped 11 of 14 shots that he faced. Unfortunately, the Atlantic lost 3-0 even with DiPietro not allowing a goal in the first half of the game.
DiPietro did not play in game two – a 4-3 shootout win vs the Pacific Division. However, he did split time in game three against the North Division where he had 5:22 of ice time. The Atlantic won 2-1 to advance to the Championship Game.
The Championship game was a wild one as it went down to a shootout, because of course with it being the All-Star Classic after all. DiPietro played 7:12 while only facing one shot over that span. During the shootout, he managed to save one of the three attempts. However, his teammates went zero for three and the Central Division won the bragging rights.
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All in all, DiPietro stopped 13 of the 16 shots that he faced in the three games that he played for the Atlantic Division. Also saving one of the three shots in the shootout in the Championship game. Overall, to win the CCM Top Goaltender Award and show how dialed in he was over the two days, it’s clear why the P-Bruins have been playing so well this season.
DiPietro Shines for P-Bruins
In 25 games played for the P-Bruins, DiPietro has a 16-5-4 record with a 1.91 GAA and a .932 save percentage (SV%). He also has four shutouts on the season (tied for AHL lead). His 1.91 GAA leads the whole AHL while his .932 SV% is second only to Yaroslav Askarov (.938). DiPietro has only allowed 48 goals in over 1500 of time on ice for the P-Bruins.
In his second full season with the P-Bruins, DiPietro is having a career season for the 26-year-old Windsor, ON native. He is only two wins shy of tying his career-high with the P-Bruins (18) with five starts left to match. Furthermore, he is only five wins away from tying his overall career high (21) that he had with the Utica Comets (2019-20). He has 11 games left to match that start total. In conclusion, there is a solid chance DiPietro will set a new career high in wins for his career in 2024-25 with the P-Bruins.
Second Half Starts Saturday
The P-Bruins are back on Saturday, Feb. 8 versus the Springfield Thunderbirds to kick off the second half of the season. The game is set for a 7 p.m. Eastern start time. Fans can watch it as the AHL Game of the Week on FloHockey. Also, fans can watch for free on the AHL’s Facebook, YouTube, and X pages.
