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This year's AHL All-Star Classic is unique.
The AHL All-Star Skills Competition is taking place on Tuesday and the All-Star Game on Wednesday. To put an interesting twist on it, the AHL All-Star team is one roster of the AHL's best players facing off against the Farjestad BK hockey club from the Swedish Hockey League.
Farjestad has never competed in North America before. They traveled to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada - home of the host team, the St. John's Ice Caps (Winnipeg Jets affiliate) - to participate in the 2014 All-Star Classic. From the AHL's press release:
The 2014 AHL All-Star Classic will mark the first time ever that a Swedish Hockey League team has competed in North America. Founded in 1932 and based in the city of Karlstad, Sweden, Färjestad BK – led by team CEO Håkan Loob – is one of the most successful franchises in all of European hockey, playing in 19 league finals and winning nine Swedish league championships, including four since 2002.
More importantly, the All-Star Classic festivities on Tuesday and Wednesday will be broadcast in all of Canada and the United States. The AHL is typically hard to access if you aren't able to make it to a game in person due to the expenses of AHL Live and lack of television coverage, but the next two days will feature local markets (such as NESN) covering the events live (6:30 pm EST because Newfoundland), with replays of the events playing again later on NHL Network. The events will also be available to watch for free on AHL Live. Here's a handy quick reference for relevant channels:
| Channel | Skills Competition Tuesday, Feb. 11 - 6:30 ET | AHL All-Star Game Wednesday, Feb. 12 - 6:30 ET |
|---|---|---|
| Sportsnet ONE | LIVE | LIVE |
|
NHL Network (U.S.) |
Tue 2/11, 10:00 PM ET | Wed 2/12, 10:00 PM ET Sun 2/16, 10:00 PM ET |
| AHL Live (ahllive.com) |
LIVE | LIVE |
| New England Sports Network | LIVE | LIVE (NESN Plus) |
| MSG Network | LIVE (MSG+) | LIVE (MSG+2) |
If you don't get those channels, here is the comprehensive list of television stations that will be carrying the events in each region in both Canada and the United States.
While no Providence Bruins will be represented due to Ryan Spooner's decision to sit out and recover from the plague, check out some of the AHL's best players and future great NHL players. The roster can be found here. Perhaps you are more intrigued by the Swedish Hockey League opponents (I know that's a big reason I want to watch), so find their roster here.