Tuesday, January 6, 2015

14 Alums Named AHL All-Stars

Shore brothers from Denver to face off in AHL All-Star Classic.

14 Alums Named AHL All-Stars
Drew Shore, shown here at Denver, will compete against his brother Nick in the AHL All-Star Classic.

Fourteen former NCAA stars from 12 schools have been named to the rosters for the 2015 AHL All-Star Classic, the American Hockey League announced Tuesday.

TheAHL.com: All-Star Rosters Announced

Among the selections are former Denver stars and brothers Drew and Nick Shore, who will represent the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively. Miami also has two alums selected, with goaltender Jeff Zatkoff and defenseman Chris Wideman set to represent the East.

The 2015 AHL All-Star Classic is set for Jan. 25-26 in Utica, N.Y.

In all, the East roster features 10 former NCAA players, while the West has four. The current AHL leading scorer, Brian O’Neill of Yale, is on the East roster, while last year’s AHL MVP, Travis Morin of Minnesota State, represents the West.

Former college players make up a significant portion of AHL rosters, just as they do at the NHL level (30%). More than half of the AHL’s top 25 scorers played college hockey (13 of 25). Ten of the league’s top 20 goaltenders in save percentage are former NCAA players.

NCAA Alums Named to AHL All-Star Rosters

Eastern Conference
Connor Hellebuyck St. John’s UMass Lowell
Jeff Zatkoff W-B/Scranton Miami
Matt Taormina Worcester Providence
Chris Wideman Binghamton Miami
Chris Bourque Hartford Boston University
Tim Kennedy Hershey Michigan State
Brian O’Neill Manchester Yale
Nick Shore Manchester Denver
Chris Wagner Norfolk Colgate
Joe Whitney Albany Boston College
Western Conference
Brad Hunt Oklahoma City Bemidji State
Bobby Butler San Antonio New Hampshire
Travis Morin Texas Minnesota State
Drew Shore San Antonio Denver