The AHL All-Star festivities will be held this weekend in Providence, R.I.
Lockout or not, the American Hockey League just keeps rolling along.
Yes, the sport’s top minor league is doing just fine since the National Hockey League finally reached a new collective bargaining agreement and got back to work.
“We had a strong first half, and we seem to be holding to that since the lockout ended,” said Dave Andrews, a Wilbraham resident now in his 19th season as president of the AHL.
“There was a lot of player movement when the NHL opened its training camps – we have 126 of our players now on NHL rosters – and I think our fans are excited to follow their progress. Now we’re getting back to the normal situation of players going up and down as a season goes along,” Andrews said.
He is looking forward to this weekend, when he will preside over the AHL All-Star Classic as it unfolds with the skills competition on Sunday, followed by Hall of Fame inductions and the All-Star Game Monday night at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
After a 35-year absence, the AHL All-Star Game was re-instituted in 1995 at the urging of Andrews.
By the way, he is the only professional league president/commissioner who actually played the sport he oversees. A goaltender by trade, Andrews played collegiately in Canada, followed by four pro seasons in The Netherlands before moving into hockey’s administrative side.
MONSON CALLING: The Monson High School Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2013 on an October date to be determined.
The Hall of Fame committee has announced that nomination forms can be found at Monson Savings Bank, the post office, public library and town office.
For more information contact Hall of Fame chairman Jim Duggan at jamesduggan@comcast.net, or 267-3467.
Nominations must be submitted by April 15.
HERE’S THE SCOOP: Two Springfield Falcons hockey players will scoop ice cream at Friendly’s on 1811 Boston Road in Springfield Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. to benefit Easter Seals as part of its “Cones for Kids” campaign.
The players will participate in a 60-second “Celebrity Ice Cream Scoop-Off” against a competitor. All of the ice cream collected during this furious minute will be handed out to patrons of Friendly’s. The players, whose identities have not yet been revealed, will remain at Friendly’s after the scoop-off to take photographs with fans and sign autographs. All proceeds from the hour-long event will benefit Easter Seals.
Cones for Kids is an annual fundraiser run by Friendly’s to benefit Easter Seals’ summer camp for children, teens, and young adults with autism and other disabilities, as well as the organization’s Youth Leadership Network.
BEST BET for the weekend: Shanghai Bobby, in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream.