SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  … The American Hockey League announced today changes to the playing rosters for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, which begins tonight at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Rochester Americans forward Justin Bailey, Syracuse Crunch forward Cory Conacher and St. John’s IceCaps forward Chris Terry have been added to the North Division All-Star team. Bailey, Conacher and Terry replace Albany Devils representatives Joe Blandisi, Vojtech Mozik and John Quenneville, who will be unavailable for the event.
The 2017 All-Star rosters now feature 39 first-time participants, 12 AHL rookies and 15 former first- and second-round NHL draft choices. In addition, 28 of this year’s All-Stars have been recalled to the National Hockey League already this season.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan tonight (7:30 p.m. ET) will pit the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events.
In the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday (7 p.m. ET), the four teams will participate in a round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each, played entirely at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played at 3-on-3.
Starting at just $26 each, a limited number of single-event tickets are on sale for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, featuring the AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan and the AHL All-Star Challenge. To purchase event tickets, please visit phantomshockey.com, call 610-347-TIXX or visit the PPL Center box office.
The All-Star Classic festivities also include the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, to be held at Miller Symphony Hall at 11 a.m. on Jan. 30. The ceremony will feature the induction of Billy Dea, Bryan Helmer, Rob Murray and Doug Yingst as the AHL Hall of Fame Class of 2017 and will also celebrate honorary All-Star Classic captains Daniel Briere and Terry Murray.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 94 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Jake Allen, Artem Anisimov, Patrice Bergeron, Ben Bishop, Troy Brouwer, Ryan Callahan, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Martin Jones, Chris Kunitz, Zach Parise, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Bobby Ryan, Cory Schneider, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, P.K. Subban and Mats Zuccarello, as well as former Lehigh Valley Phantoms representatives Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning and Anthony Stolarz.
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, trainers, executives and broadcasters of all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of NHL players last season were AHL graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2015-16, over 7.1 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America, the highest total attendance in league history.
Rosters as of January 29:
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  F (capt.)Chris Bourque |
 FTravis Boyd |
  DT.J. Brennan |
  FDanton Heinen |
  GTristan Jarry |
  FNicklas Jensen |
 FTaylor Leier |
 GZane McIntyre |
  DDevon Toews |
 DDavid Warsofsky |
 FJordan Weal |
  DMackenzie Weegar |
 CoachClark Donatelli |
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  FCasey Bailey |
  FJustin Bailey |
  FCory Conacher |
 FYanni Gourde |
  FAlexandre Grenier |
  GCharlie Lindgren |
  FKerby Rychel |
 FCole Schneider |
 DJordan Subban |
 DMatt Taormina |
 FChris Terry |
 GLinus Ullmark |
 CoachBenoit Groulx |
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  FSpencer Abbott |
  FKenny Agostino |
  FOliver Bjorkstrand |
  DAlexandre Carrier |
 F (capt.)Ryan Craig |
 DVince Dunn |
 GAnton Forsberg |
  GMichael Leighton |
  FMatt Lorito |
  FJack Roslovic |
 DRobbie Russo |
  FAlex Tuch |
 CoachTodd Nelson |
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  FJonny Brodzinski |
 GJack Campbell |
  FChristian Fischer |
  FA.J. Greer |
  GTroy Grosenick |
  FMark Jankowski |
 DVincent LoVerde |
  DBrandon Montour |
  DJordan Oesterle |
 FDaniel O’Regan |
  FMatej Stransky |
 DKyle Wood |
 CoachMike Stothers |
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