Come the end of play on December 31, 2015, the Toronto Marlies far and away owned the best record in the North Division. This resulted in Sheldon Keefe being named as head coach for the North Division team in the AHL All-Star game to be played on February 1.
It’s certainly a worthy accolade for Sheldon Keefe, who has let his players take the plaudits so far this season. A rookie and the youngest coach in the American League at the age of just 35, Keefe has taken to his first professional coaching role like a duck to water.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Milwaukee Admirals and the Ontario Reign all led their divisions at year end and their coaches will take control of the Atlantic, Central and Pacific Division teams respectively.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton should have been represented by Mike Sullivan, but with his promotion to the Pittsburgh Penguins top job, it’s former interim head coach and now associate head coach Jay Leach who will take the reigns. With him behind the bench, the WBS Penguins have posted a record of 21-8-0-1
Former NHL’er and assistant coach of the Washington Capitals, Dean Evason will represent the Milwaukee Admirals. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons last year, Evason has guided the team to first place with a record of 22-10-1-0.
These three coaches will be coming up against the reigning winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s coach of the year.
Mike Stothers led the Manchester Monarchs to a Calder Cup Championship last season, and despite the AHL affiliate switching to Ontario, nothing has really changed as his team continues to march on.
The Ontario Reign owned a 17-6-2-1 record at the turn of the year and this will the second straight season that Stothers will coach in the All-Star Game.
The head coaches will definitely have more than just a fleeting role in the 2016 AHL All-Star game as the league has sought to make it more competitive.
The four teams will play a round-robin tournament featuring six games of nine minutes each; the first half of each game will be played at 4-on-4, and the second half at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin tournament will face off for the championship — a six-minute game played at 3-on-3.
Player selections for each team will be announced in the next few days, and you can expect a few names from Toronto to be in the shake-up.
