The American Hockey League announced today that Springfield Falcons goaltender David LeNeveu, a member of the Canadian team at the 2004 Pepsi AHL All-Star Classic, will switch locker rooms and suit up for the PlanetUSA squad for tonight’s AHL All-Star Game in Grand Rapids.
Chicago’s Kari Lehtonen and Portland’s Rastislav Stana will be unable to compete in goal for PlanetUSA due to injury. Lehtonen has been out of the Wolves’ lineup for nearly a month, while Stana was injured during Sunday night’s AHL All-Star Skills Competition.
LeNeveu will join Rochester’s Ryan Miller in the PlanetUSA crease, while Bridgeport’s Wade Dubielewicz and Binghamton’s Ray Emery will share the duties in net for the Canadians.
Additionally, the AHL announced that Grand Rapids Griffins forward Nathan Robinson will miss tonight’s game after suffering an injury in the Skills Competition as well.
LeNeveu, a rookie out of Cornell University who broke several of Ken Dryden’s school records, hails from Fernie, a British Columbia town just over the U.S.-Canadian border. He suited up for the Canadian AHL All-Stars on Sunday and finished second in the Pepsi Top Goaltender portion of the Skills Competition, stopping 15 of 19 shots he faced on the evening.
The 2004 Pepsi AHL All-Star Classic concludes tonight with the annual AHL All-Star Game at 7:00 p.m. The PlanetUSA team took an 18-9 decision in Sunday’s Skills Competition, and goes for the event sweep tonight. The Canadians, however, have won the last four AHL All-Star Games.
Tonight’s contest from Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids will be televised to more than 108 million households on 21 regional television partners in the United States, and on Rogers Sportsnet nationally in Canada.
