McCambridge earns all-star berth

With his team’s 4-3 shootout win in Toronto on Saturday afternoon, St. John’s IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge has earned the right to coach the Eastern Conference team at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic, to be held Jan. 29-30 in Atlantic City, N.J.

St. John’s is guaranteed to have the best record in the Eastern Conference at the pre-determined deadline: the end of play Sunday. The first-year IceCaps, top affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, are currently 19-7-4-1, good for a conference-best .694 points percentage.

McCambridge, 37, is in his first season as an AHL head coach after two years as an assistant with the Manitoba Moose. McCambridge spent part of his 11-year playing career in the AHL as well, appearing in 378 games with Saint John, Providence, Houston and Cleveland.

Saturday’s win also gives St. John’s a 12-0-2-1 mark on the road this season, one game shy of the AHL record for consecutive road games without a regulation loss in one season, set by the 2010-11 Milwaukee Admirals. The IceCaps can tie the record when they take on Toronto at Ricoh Coliseum again on Sunday.