The Walleye will host the 2019 ECHL All-Star Classic, the organization said Saturday.
The annual game featuring the top players in the ECHL will be at the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo in January of that year. This will be the first time the Walleye franchise, in its eighth season, has hosted the event.
The all-star weekend festivities will open Friday, Jan. 18, and the game will be Monday, Jan. 21.
The four-day event will feature a Fanfest in Hensville, a youth hockey tournament, and the 12th ECHL Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said the league is proud to bring its showcase event to the Glass City.
“We look forward to bringing the best talent in the ECHL to entertain an enthusiastic fan base in a terrific facility,” McKenna said. “There’s no question the Walleye organization has done a great job from the get-go.
“The fan base continues to grow. They made a strong bid to host this event. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
Walleye coach Dan Watson said the organization will put on a top-notch event that will be well planned.
“It will be awesome for the city and for the fans. It will be fantastic,” Watson said. “I don’t expect anything less than a magnificent event.”
Walleye general manager Neil Neukam said fans have been wanting Toledo to host the event for years.
“We first initiated conversations with the league last summer. We’ve always envisioned this,” Neukam said. “In my mind, we have the best fans in the ECHL, and they will get to see the best players in the league. The community support we saw during the first ECHL outdoor games [at the team’s Winterfest event] in 2014 makes it very exciting to welcome back hockey fans from across the country. This is the continuation of the wave of excitement we’ve built.”
This year’s all-star game in Glens Falls, N.Y. — hosted by the Adirondack Thunder — was the centerpiece of a week of events. The 2018 all-star game will be in Indianapolis and hosted by the Indy Fuel.
The annual all-star game, which is at the midpoint of the ECHL season, has produced more than 60 players who have made it to the NHL.
The past 10 all-star games have generated more than $1 million each for the local economies, according to the league. Guests, players, coaches, and fans occupy hundreds of hotel rooms and spend three days in the host city, the league said.
Ticket information and availability will be announced at a later date.
LERG WINS MASK CONTEST: Walleye goaltender Jeff Lerg, who is on injured reserve, won an award for having the ECHL’s best mask as voted on by fans in a Twitter poll.
Lerg won the ECHL March MASKness Challenge for the second consecutive season. Lerg’s lid edged out the mask of Tulsa goalie P.J. Musico with 51 percent of the more than 2,000 votes that were cast.
TRANSACTIONS: Walleye forward A.J. Jenks has returned from a call-up to Iowa of the American Hockey League. But Jenks, who has 19 goals and 27 assists in 46 games, was placed on reserve. He did not play Saturday because he drove back from Iowa.
Defensemen Parker Reno and Derek Docken were released by the team Saturday.
PLAYOFFS: The field for the Kelly Cup playoffs is set.
The Walleye (51-17-4) won the Central Division, the Western Conference, and captured the Brabham Cup for the best overall record in the regular season.
The Florida Everblades won the Eastern Conference championship. Florida also won the South Division. Adirondack captured the North Division, and Allen won the Mountain Division.
RECORD SET: The Walleye surpassed the franchise record for wins in a season against the Fuel on Saturday. The team also set a single-season record for road wins (25), breaking the mark of 24 set in 2014-15.
GOALIE MARK: With Friday’s win at Indy, goalie Jake Paterson (34-13-2) set a single-season Walleye record for wins, passing Lerg’s 32 in 2014-15. Former Storm goalie Nick Vitucci holds the all-time ECHL record for wins (35 in 1994-95).
Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.
First Published April 9, 2017, 4:25 a.m.
