STOCKTON, Calif. – The AHL has announced the coaches for the 2018 AHL All-Star Challenge that will be held in Utica, New York on January 29, 2018. The decision was based on the teams with the best records in their respective divisions as of the end of the 2017 calendar year, which was the Bruins, Marlies, Moose, and Roadrunners.
Mike Van Ryn, of the Tucson Roadrunners, will head the Pacific Division All-Star team. In his first season with the Roadrunners, Van Ryn was formerly the development coach for the Arizona Coyotes. The Roadrunners have a 16-9-2-1 record (.625) to date.
Pascal Vincent of the Manitoba Moose will assume the lead role for the Central Division. The Moose are 24-6-1-2 (.773). This is Vincent’s second season with the Moose, following five seasons as an assistant coach with the Winnepeg Jets.
The North Division will be led by Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Marlies (23-11-0-0). The Marlies are in first place, based upon the established tiebreaker (regulation/overtime wins). Keefe has been with the Marlies for the past three seasons. Keefe also coached the North Division All-Stars in 2016.
In his first full season as AHL Head coach, Jay Leach of the Providence Bruins will lead the Eastern Division. The Bruins are 21-8-3-0 (.703) so far for the season. Despite this being his first season, Leach has All-Star experience due to Mike Sullivan’s promotion to Pittsburgh from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team in 2016.
Player rosters are scheduled to be announced later in the week. All-Star Captains were announced last month with the honors going to Binghamton Devils forward Bracken Kearns and Ontario Reign forward Brett Sutter. These choices were made by the league president, David Andrews, in recognition of their outstanding leadership and service.
Bracken Kearns is in his 13th professional season in 2017-18 and his first in the New Jersey Devils organization after signing as a free agent on July 1, 2017. Kearns leads Binghamton with 15 assists and ranks second on the club with 20 points in 27 games this season, and has totaled 167 goals and 248 assists for 415 points in 692 career regular-season games in the American Hockey League. The 36-year-old native of West Vancouver, B.C., was undrafted but has gone on to appear in 35 regular-season games and seven playoff contests in the National Hockey League with Florida, San Jose and the New York Islanders. This will be Kearns’s second career AHL All-Star appearance.
Brett Sutter has played 702 games in the AHL over his 11-year pro career, totaling 123 goals and 174 assists for 297 points – including five goals and five assists in 24 games with Ontario this season. The son of former AHL rookie of the year (1979-80) and two-time Stanley Cup champion coach Darryl Sutter, Brett was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2005 and has played 60 National Hockey League games with Calgary, Carolina and Minnesota. A 30-year-old native of Viking, Alta., Sutter is wearing the captain’s “C” this season for the fourth time in his AHL career (Charlotte, 2011-14). He will be making first trip to the AHL All-Star Classic.
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