AHL goalies past and present featured in new card set

The 2007-08 version of the Between the Pipes trading card set, featuring dozens of current and former American Hockey League goaltenders, has been released by In the Game. The card set is available for purchase at major retailers and in select AHL arenas.

The 100-card set is stacked with many of today’s “Future Stars,” including 2008 AHL All-Stars Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids Griffins), Pekka Rinne (Milwaukee Admirals) and Tuukka Rask (Providence Bruins). Other recent AHL All-Stars featured in the set include Al Montoya, Curtis McElhinney, Karri Ramo, Marek Schwarz, and Jaroslav Halak.

Several rookie goaltenders also highlight the “Future Stars” section, including the Chicago Wolves’ Ondrej Pavelec, the Hershey Bears’ Daren Machesney, the Binghamton Senators’ Brian Elliott and current Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price, who was the most valuable player of the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs.

The “Stars of the Game” subset features former AHL All-Stars Tomas Vokoun, Ryan Miller, Ray Emery and Kari Lehtonen, along with other notable AHL alumni like Cam Ward, Roberto Luongo, Tim Thomas and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Former AHL players featured in the “Greats of the Game” cards include Calder Cup champions Terry Sawchuk, Patrick Roy and Billy Smith, along with other legends such as Glenn Hall, Grant Fuhr, current Manchester Monarchs general manager Ron Hextall and AHL Hall of Famer Johnny Bower, a three-time AHL MVP.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 83 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the sixth year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2006-07.