BINGHAMTON, N.Y. … The PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars opened the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok with a 15-9 victory over their Canadian counterparts in the 2008 CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena on Sunday night.
Canadian forward Mark Mancari of the Rochester Americans shattered the AHL record in the Rbk O-Stick Hardest Shot event with a blast clocked at 102.8 miles per hour. PlanetUSA’s Jonathan Ericsson of the Grand Rapids Griffins also topped the century mark at 100.1 mph.
The Manchester Monarchs’ Gabe Gauthier posted just the second 4-for-4 effort ever in the Rbk Sickick Stick Accuracy Shooting competition, Toby Petersen of the Iowa Stars took the CCM U+ Skate Fastest Skater title with a time of 14.001 seconds, and PlanetUSA captain Keith Aucoin of the Albany River Rats won the individual InGlasCo Puck Control Relay.
PlanetUSA’s goaltending trio of Milwaukee’s Pekka Rinne, Grand Rapids’ Jimmy Howard and Providence’s Tuukka Rask combined to stop 46 of 57 shots on the night, with Rinne taking the Rbk XPulse Top Goaltender award by stopping 16 of 19 Canadian shots on the night. PlanetUSA won its fourth Skills Competition in the last five years.
The PlanetUSA squad will go for the sweep when the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Reebok continues on Monday night with the annual AHL All-Star Game. Coverage from Binghamton begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, a series of regional networks in the United States, and at no charge via B2 Networks’ video webcast on theahl.com. The game can also be heard live on XM Satellite Radio.
Skills Scorecard
