SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications is just days away, with the city of Worcester ready to host players, coaches, luminaries and thousands of fans at the DCU Center. The two-day event will also reach millions of hockey fans worldwide through extensive television, internet and radio coverage.
This year’s showcase, with the 2009 AHL All-Star Skills Competition set for Sunday (4:00 p.m. ET) and the 2009 AHL All-Star Game to follow on Monday (7:00 p.m. ET), will be produced by the New England Sports Network (NESN) to be televised to more than 100 million households in North America, including a national audience on TSN in Canada.
NESN’s broadcast crew for the event is led by Tom Caron (play-by-play), a two-time winner of the James H. Ellery Award for outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League. Providing color analysis will be former AHL and NHL defenseman Bob Beers, a member of the 1999 Calder Cup champion Providence Bruins who now serves as a commentator on Boston Bruins radio broadcasts. The third member of the team will be rinkside reporter A.J. Mleczko, who won a gold medal with the United States women’s ice hockey team at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and a silver medal at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City.
AHL Live (www.ahllive.com) will also be providing extensive coverage of the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic, hosted by Bridgeport Sound Tigers radio voice Phil Giubileo and Albany River Rats broadcaster Owen Newkirk. In addition to access to the Skills Competition and All-Star Game, AHL Live’s weekend subscription will also include coverage of the 2009 AHL Hall of Fame inductions on Monday afternoon. AHL Live can be accessed through the link on the newly redesigned on-line home of the American Hockey League, theahl.com.
The 2009 AHL All-Star Game on Monday night can also be heard anywhere in the world via audio cybercast on theahl.com. Worcester Sharks play-by-play voice Eric Lindquist, Lowell Devils broadcaster Ryan Johnston and WTAG News/Talk 580 will provide the radio broadcast of the 2009 AHL All-Star Game, which will also air on the NHL Home Ice channel (XM 204, Sirius 208) on Sirius XM Radio – America’s satellite radio company – and XM Canada with nearly 20 million subscribers across North America.
Of the 455 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since 1995, more than 94 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes, Dan Boyle, Brian Campbell, Zdeno Chara, Rick DiPietro, Jiri Hudler, Miikka Kiprusoff, Kari Lehtonen, Ryan Miller, Zach Parise, Martin St. Louis, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal and Tomas Vokoun.
