MAITLAND, FLA – When the Orlando Solar Bears host the 2015 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic at the Amway Center on Wednesday, the eyes of the minor league hockey world will be on the City Beautiful. Everyone in the Solar Bears organization is excited to be playing host to and participating in the league’s marquee event – especially the coaches and players.
“For me it’s more about the growth of hockey in Central Florida. For us as an organization, [it’s a chance] to show the rest of the league and everyone what we do here,” Orlando head coach Vince Williams said. “It’s going to be an unbelievable experience and everyone should enjoy it.”
Playing in an all-star game at any level of play is an honor. Several members of the Orlando roster have had such an opportunity and their recollections of the event are ones of fun.
“In juniors I was fortunate to be selected for the all-star game. It’s obviously a different paced game,” defenseman Eric Baier said. “It’ll be a ton of fun. They’re always great fun to play in and I’m sure they’re fun to watch as well.”
Forward Mike Ullrich said that during the course of his playing time that he has played in two or three games. Like Baier, the memories of those contests are of friendly competition.
“Every experience has been kind of the same. Guys still played hard enough but at the same time no one wanted to hurt anyone or no one wanted to get into that kind of after the whistle stuff,” Ullrich said. “It was more of a skill game. It was a fun time each time I played in it.”
Some players like Marshall Everson have never had the chance to play in an all-star game so Wednesday’s game will be a brand new experience. He said he is looking forward to enjoying all of the events.
“I think the whole week will be exciting. I think it’ll be fun just to be part of the game and see what that experience is like,” Everson, who was acquired in a trade with Gwinnett last week, said. “I’m sure the fans will be out and loud and it’ll be a great experience.”
The format for the game is the host team against the league all-stars. It is unusual but goalie Sean Bonar has seen it before. He said whatever the format, being a part of an all-star game is a great experience.
“The last all-star game I played in was in the BCHL (juniors) in my 18-year old year. It was kind of a similar format where the Vipers one of the local teams played the all-stars. I was on the all-star team and it was a very fun experience,” Bonar said. “I’d say both format have their benefits. This way you get to see really how an all-star team would match up against a real squad but the other format (conference versus conference) you have a lot of high-end talent so there’s benefits both ways.”
Forward Brady Vail, another veteran of all-star contests in his earlier playing years, agreed with Bonar about the format being a good measuring point for the Solar Bears.
“You look at it as another team that has a bunch of skilled players and some good goaltending. Chances are it’s going to be a very offensive game,” Vail said. “If we’re looking to win the game, they’ve never played together before and we’ve had some good practices. We’ve been playing together all year.”
Vail is also one of many players who will have friends and family in town for the game. A native of Palm City, Florida, Vail is excited to have even more familiar faces see him play.
“They (his parents) can bring my grandparents and my sister,” he said. “It’s great to be able to see them. I think they’re pretty excited to come watch me play in the all-star game.”
To a man, all of the Solar Bears said that although it is an exhibition game there is pride involved so losing is not an option.
“I think any time you touch the ice, you want to win. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Everson said. “I think we’ll come out hard at least. Good performances don’t come in losses, they only come in wins.”
As for Bonar, who along with Garret Sparks will be facing the best the league has to offer, his goals go beyond winning.
“I’ve bounced around a little bit this year and I’m looking forward to facing some really top end quality shots,” he said. “I’ll try and throw in some highlight reel saves. That’s what I’m going to be there to do.”
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