The Puck Stops Here

Far too often, I think about the state of hockey today and I get hung up on the NHL and its labor problems and get depressed about it. Hockey is fine. The business of NHL hockey may be in trouble right now. But hockey is fine.

As proof, the AHL is playing its all star game. Should be great. Lets enjoy it. Thanks to the NHL lockout, there is more talent in the AHL now then ever before.

Here is a look at the all stars (many are familiar NHL names). Team Canada plays Planet USA in the all star game. Planet USA includes players from everywhere on earth except Canada

2005 Canadian AHL All-Stars
2 D Dan Hamhuis Milwaukee
3 D Jay Bouwmeester San Antonio
4 D Brad Tiley ("C") Milwaukee
7 D Nolan Baumgartner Manitoba
8 D Steve Eminger Portland
9 F Jason Spezza (starter) Binghamton
10 F Simon Gamache Milwaukee
12 F Eric Perrin Hershey
13 F Mike Cammalleri (starter) Manchester
16 F Patrick Sharp Philadelphia
17 F Michel Ouellet (starter) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
19 F Chuck Kobasew Lowell
21 F Eric Staal Lowell
23 F Rene Bourque Norfolk
25 D Dennis Wideman (starter) Worcester
28 D Lawrence Nycholat (starter) Hartford
30 G Joey MacDonald Grand Rapids
31 G Mathieu Garon Manchester
32 F Jason King Manitoba
35 G Jason LaBarbera (starter) Hartford
37 F Patrice Bergeron Providence
77 D Travis Roche Chicago
97 F Kyle Wellwood St. John's

2005 PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars
1 G Antero Niittymaki Philadelphia
2 D Keith Ballard Utah
5 D Brian Pothier Binghamton
6 D Niklas Kronwall (starter) Grand Rapids
7 F Brandon Bochenski Binghamton
8 D Andrew Hutchinson Milwaukee
10 F Craig Darby ("C") Springfield
11 F Zach Parise (starter) Albany
14 F Tomas Plekanec Hamilton
16 F Tony Salmelainen Edmonton
17 F Ryan Kesler Manitoba
18 F Alexander Svitov Syracuse
19 F Andy Hilbert (starter) Providence
20 D Christian Ehrhoff Cleveland
21 F Mikko Koivu Houston
23 F Dustin Brown (starter) Manchester
24 F Michael Holmqvist Cincinnati
27 F Sean Bergenheim Bridgeport
30 G Ryan Miller Rochester
34 G Kari Lehtonen (starter) Chicago
37 D Denis Grebeshkov Manchester
44 D Joni Pitkanen (starter) Philadelphia
84 D Anton Volchenkov Binghamton