Reign to host 2020 AHL All-Star Classic

I’ll have additional quotes from AHL President David Andrews and Reign President Darren Abbott after today’s intrasquad. But the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic is now press-release official:

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ONTARIO, CA – American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that the Ontario Reign have been selected as hosts of the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic.

The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic will be held at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif., on January 26-27, 2020.

“Ontario has welcomed the AHL into its community with open arms, and we are very excited to bring our celebration of hockey’s best young talent to southern California with our first All-Star Classic on the west coast,” said Andrews. “We look forward to working with the Reign organization over the next 16 months to put together a world-class event.”

“The entire Ontario Reign organization is honored to bring the AHL All-Star Classic to the state of California for the first time,” said Reign President Darren Abbott. “The All-Star Classic will showcase the brightest talent in our league to the Inland Empire and we’re excited to place a spotlight on our franchise throughout North America. Hosting this marquee event is a fitting way to commemorate the fifth season of the AHL in Ontario and was made possible by the dedication shown by our fans.

The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic will include the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday, January 26, followed by the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony on Monday, January 27 and the 2020 AHL All-Star Challenge that evening. Ticket information, the official event logo and details about other social events to take place during the All-Star Classic will be announced at a later date.

The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 94 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Jake Allen, Patrice Bergeron, Ben Bishop, Ryan Callahan, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Connor Hellebuyck, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Martin Jones, Chris Kunitz, Jonathan Marchessault, Zach Parise, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Bobby Ryan, Cory Schneider, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, P.K. Subban and Mats Zuccarello.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 31 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2017-18, over 6 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America for the 17th year in a row.

The Ontario Reign begin the 2018-19 season in October, their fourth season as members of the American Hockey League. Don’t miss all the exciting action as the Reign celebrate eleven years of hockey in the Inland Empire. For information on Reign tickets and ticket plans, call 909.941.7825 or visit OntarioReign.com.