Roster changes announced for All-Star Classic

The ECHL on Monday announced roster changes for the 2022 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic, to be hosted by the Jacksonville Icemen on Monday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The game will air LIVE exclusively on NHL Network.

In this year’s All-Star event, the host Jacksonville Icemen will take on a team of ECHL All-Stars representing the other teams in the League, as well as feature several Skills events which will count as a goal towards the winning Player’s team score.

Five players have been added to the ECHL All-Star Roster: Goaltender Brad Barone (Orlando), forward Justin Florek (South Carolina) and forwards Alexis D’Aoust and Anthony Nellis and defenseman Olivier Galipeau (Trois-Rivières).

The following players who were named to the ECHL All-Star Roster will not participate in the event: Yauheni Aksiantsiuk, Kris Bennett, Justin Brazeau, Samuel Harvey, Brenden Miller, Zach O’Brien, Jacob Pritchard, Jordan Subban and Patrick Watling.

In addition, Cincinnati Cyclones' head coach Jason Payne will serve as a coach of the ECHL All-Stars along with Toledo's Dan Watson, in place of Newfoundland's Eric Wellwood, who was unable to attend due to travel delays.

In partnership with the Premier Hockey Federation and Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, two members from each organization will participate in the All-Star Classic. Taking part in the All-Star festivities will be the PHF’s Allie Thunstrom of the Minnesota Whitecaps and Jillian Dempsey of the Boston Pride and the PWHPA’s Sophia Shaver of Team adidas (Minnesota) and Loren Gabel of Team Sonnet (Toronto).

The 14th class of the ECHL Hall of Fame will be officially inducted at a luncheon, presented by BFL CANADA and Sutton Special Risk, on Monday, January 17 at 12:00 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Florida, the Official Host Hotel of the 2022 ECHL All-Star Classic.

For more information on the 2022 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.echlallstarclassic.com.

About the ECHLBegan in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces for its 34th season in 2021-22. There have been 718 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 20 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2021-22 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 27 of the 32 NHL teams in 2021-22, marking the 25th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook.