Beauty Facts and Stats : 2026 AHL All-Star Classic Edition

photo credit: The AHL

On February 10 and 11, the best and brightest of the American Hockey League will put their skills on display in the league’s annual All-Star Classic. The first AHL All-Star game was hosted in Cleveland, Ohio on February 3, 1942. Almost $5,000 from the proceeds of the event was sent to aid soldiers from both Canada and the United States who were fighting overseas at the time. There were six more All-Star events before an almost 30-year break starting in 1960.

​In 1994, David Andrews became President of the league and resurrected the event, awarding it to the Providence Bruins. Leading up to the All-Star Classic on January 17, 1995, the AHL announced an affiliation with ESPN to produce and televise the games. TSN and RDS in Canada joined in this partnership. This was the first time the league had national broadcast exposure for its All-Star Classic.

Fast forward to 2026, the event has evolved into arguably one of the best showcases in professional sports, featuring a skills competition, a round robin style game pitting divisions against one another, a Hall of Fame induction, and community events.

​Each year has its own set of unique storylines and stats about the coaches and players in attendance. Below are the facts and stats that I found beautiful about the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic.

​—----------

​There are 49 AHL players participating in the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic hosted by the Rockford IceHogs of the Central Division. In years past, we’ve seen a slew of multi-year attendees. However, this year, the youth have taken over as 44 players are competing in their first AHL All-Star Classic, 27 are 23 or younger, and 12 are AHL rookies. Even with a youthful roster and first-timers, more than half have played a total of 211 games in the NHL this season (28), and 41 have NHL playing experience in their careers, 1,561 total games played.

​Since 1995, 977 players have competed in The AHL All-Star Classic. 94.4% of those players have also competed in the NHL in their careers.

​Providence Bruins forward Patrick Brown is in his 12th professional season, playing in the AHL for 545 games and the NHL for 164. Despite being around pro hockey for over a decade, this is Brown’s first appearance at the AHL All-Star. This year, he also has the honor of being the Eastern Conference playing captain for the event. Brown is currently on pace to surpass his career highs for goals (19), assists (29), and points (46).

​Jayson Megna of the Colorado Eagles is in the same boat as Brown, having played professionally for 14 seasons before being named and attending the All-Star Classic. He also has the honor of being the Western Conference player captain for the event. With 21 goals, Megna leads the Eagles in goals, which is his highest total since the 2014-15 season (26). On December 5, 2025, he earned his first hat trick in over 10 years.

​Of the five returning All-Stars, two are goaltenders, Sebastian Cossa (Grand Rapids) and Michael DiPietro (Providence). DiPietro currently leads the league in GAA (1.62) and save percentage (.943), and is tied for first in wins (20) with Cossa. In 14 of his last 15 appearances leading up to the All-Star break, DiPietro has allowed two goals or fewer. Cossa , on the other hand, leads the league with four shutouts and is close behind DiPietro with 1.99 gaa and .928 save percentage. He earned back-to-back AHL Goaltender of the Month in November and December 2025, which was the first time since 2021 that there was a back-to-back winner of the award.

​Cleveland Monsters forward Luca Del Bel Belluz is making his first AHL All-Star appearance. He was named to the 2025 All-Star, but missed the event due to being called up to the Columbus Blue Jackets. At the time of the All-Star break, Del Bel Belluz was on a six-game scoring streak (3-7-10). He is one of three players named Luca on the Monsters' current roster.

​Belleville Senators forward Arthur Kaliyev leads the league with 29 goals, 14 power play goals, and 180 shots on goal, and is second in the league with 49 assists. This offensive success comes a season after fracturing his clavicle in training camp with the Los Angeles Kings in September 2024. To be able to come back from a clavicle injury and be able to tear up the AHL leaderboard a year later is absolutely beautiful.

​All four of the All-Star coaches, Ryan Mougenel (Providence), Pascal Vincent (Laval), Mark Letestu (Colorado), and Dan Watson (Grand Rapids), have ties to professional hockey in Ohio. From 1997-1999, Mougenel played 82 games for the now-defunct Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL). Vincent spent three seasons as a coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2021 to 2024, two seasons as an Associate Coach and one season as Head Coach. Letestu played seven seasons in the Blue Jackets organization, splitting time between the Jackets and the Cleveland Monsters. After retiring from playing professional hockey on December 27, 2020, Letestu slotted perfectly into the role of Development Coach for the Blue Jackets and Assistant Coach for the Monsters, where he stayed from 2021-2025.

​Watson probably has the most illustrious career in Ohio of the four, playing for the Dayton Bombers (ECHL), the Cleveland Barons (AHL) from 2002-2004, a short stint with the Columbus Stars (UHL) during the 2003-2004 season, and the Toledo Storm (ECHL) for the final season of his playing career in 2006-07. Watson then went on to coach the Toledo Walleye (ECHL) as an assistant coach (2009-14), an associate coach (2014-16), and head coach (2016-23). In his first season as head coach of the Walleye, Watson won the John Brophy Award as the ECHL’s Coach of the Year. Watson has never missed the playoffs in his entire career as a head coach. On top of that, he led the Walleye to three 100-point seasons, four Western Conference Finals appearances, and two Kelly Cup finals appearances.

​Three of the All-Star coaches have worked with Mike Haviland, assistant coach of the Blue Jackets in some sort of coaching capacity. When Haviland was Head Coach of the Hershey Bears (2013-14), Mougenel was one of his assistant coaches. While with the Cleveland Monsters from 2022-2024, Haviland worked alongside Letestu as an assistant coach. While Vincent and Haviland were two ships passing in the night behind the benches in Columbus, they both worked together in preseason and during prospect events to help prepare Monsters players to move to the next level.

​This is a small sliver of stories and stats surrounding the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic, and there are definitely more to come.

—----

​The All-Star classic will be televised on NHL Network in the United States and TSN in Canada, along with streaming coverage on AHLTV on FloHockey. Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) will also be broadcasting the event from BMO Center in Rockford, Illinois on Tuesday, February 10 at 8ET/7CT for the Skill Competition, and Wednesday, February 11 at 8ET/7CT for the All-Star Challenge.