PLAYERS
During the 2011-12 season, more than 850 AHL alumni played in the
COACHES
Photo: AHL Archives
National Hockey League, including 329 who skated in both leagues last year alone. Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle, Ottawa’s Jason Spezza and Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux were among the 11 AHL graduates who led their NHL teams in scoring, and former AHL All-Stars Pekka Rinne, Kari Lehtonen and Ryan Miller were among the 28 AHL goaltending alumni who paced their NHL clubs in victories. More than 200 former first- and second-round draft picks developed their skills in the AHL last season, including 2012 AHL All-Stars Kyle Palmieri, Thomas Hickey, Brandon Pirri, Colby Robak, Alex Plante and Zack Kassian.
Former AHL forward Claude Giroux finished third in the NHL scoring race with 93 points for the Flyers in 2011-12.
At the start of the 2012-13 season, the NHL featured 22 head coaches who were former AHL
bench bosses, including recent Stanley Cup champions Claude Julien (Boston, 2011), Joel Quenneville (Chicago, 2010), Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh, 2009), Mike Babcock (Detroit, 2008), Randy Carlyle (Anaheim, 2007), Peter Laviolette (Carolina, 2006) and John Tortorella (Tampa Bay, 2004). “The American Hockey League has been essential in developing my potential both as a player and as a coach. Being able to hone my skills and improve at a high level of competition was key to reaching my goals of playing in the NHL, becoming a head coach and winning the Stanley Cup.” -- Dan Bylsma, Head Coach, Pittsburgh Penguins 2011 Jack Adams Award Winner, 2009 Stanley Cup Champion
Attendance was up nearly 5 percent in 2011-12 as 6.4 million fans FANS
Photo: John Wright
attended games; since 2001,AHL games have been played before more than 72 million fans in arenas across North America. The Hershey Bears paced the league for the sixth year in a row, averaging 9,872 fans per game last season, and outdoor showcases in Philadelphia (45,653 - an all-time AHL record) and Hamilton (20,565 - largest ever for AHL in Canada) set league attendance marks. The Norfolk Admirals set a franchise single-season attendance record in 2011-12 en route to their first Calder Cup championship.
STARS
The AHL All-Star Classic showcases the league’s top talent each
Of the 597 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since 1995, more than 92 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including Dan Boyle, Daniel Briere, Ryan Callahan, Brian Campbell, Chris Kunitz, Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal and Tomas Vokoun. /TheAHL
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PhotoGraphics Photography/AHL
year in an All-Star Skills Competition and All-Star Game. The 2013 Dunkin’ Donuts AHL All-Star Classic will be held in Providence, R.I., on January 27-28, featuring the Eastern Conference All-Stars battling the Western Conference All-Stars in an event to be televised live across the U.S. and Canada.
Ben Bishop 2012 AHL All-Star Game MVP
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