SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that Trent Whitfield of the Providence Bruins and Quintin Laing of the Abbotsford Heat have been selected to serve as playing captains for the 2013 Dunkin’ Donuts AHL All-Star Classic, to be held January 27-28 in Providence, R.I.
Captains for the American Hockey League All-Star teams are selected by the league president in recognition of their outstanding service and leadership to the AHL.
Trent Whitfield has spent part of each of his 15 professional seasons in the American Hockey League, including the last four with Providence. The 35-year-old native of Alameda, Sask., has played 769 career AHL games and is a four-time 20-goal scorer, totaling 240 goals and 343 assists for 583 points with Portland (1998-2005), Peoria (2005-09) and Providence (2009- ). Originally drafted by Boston in 1996, Whitfield has also skated in 194 career NHL games with the Bruins, St. Louis, the New York Rangers and Washington. Whitfield, who made his only previous AHL All-Star Classic appearance in 2003, will captain the Eastern Conference AHL All-Stars.
Now in his 13th professional season, Quintin Laing has appeared in 650 career AHL contests with Norfolk, Hershey and Abbotsford, registering 95 goals and 167 assists for 262 points and winning a Calder Cup with the Bears in 2009. Drafted by Detroit in 1997, Laing is one of the AHL’s top defensive forwards and has worn the captain’s “C” in each of his three AHL stops – including the last two seasons with the Heat. Laing, who has played 79 NHL games with Chicago and Washington, will be making his AHL All-Star Classic debut as captain of the Western Conference All-Star team.
Tickets for the 2013 Dunkin’ Donuts AHL All-Star Classic are on sale now by calling the Providence Bruins at (401) 273-5000 or visiting www.providencebruins.com. All-Star 2-Packs are $55 and $75 and include admission to both the 2013 AHL All-Star Skills Competition at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 27, and the 2013 AHL All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 28, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. All-Star 4-Packs are $75 and $100 and include admission to the Skills Competition and the All-Star Game, as well as the Post-Skills Party (January 27, 9:30 p.m.) at the Rhode Island Convention Center and the 2013 AHL Hall of Fame Induction & Awards Ceremony (January 28, 11 a.m.) at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
The 2013 Dunkin’ Donuts AHL All-Star Classic in Providence will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League competing a two-day event to be televised nationally in the United States and Canada. Of the 597 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since the event was reinstated in 1995, more than 92 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including Patrice Bergeron, Daniel Briere, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan, Mike Cammalleri, Zdeno Chara, Miikka Kiprusoff, Ryan Miller, Zach Parise, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Bobby Ryan, Martin St. Louis, Cory Schneider, Jason Spezza and Eric Staal.
