SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced today that Los Angeles Kings alumni and former AHL All-Stars Robb Stauber and Derek Armstrong have been selected to serve as the honorary captains for the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport, to be held January 26-27 in Ontario, Calif.
Each year, the All-Star Classic honorary captains join the participating teams in the locker room and on the benches during the event, and are recognized for their careers at the annual AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony.
A Hobey Baker Award winner at the University of Minnesota, Robb Stauber was drafted by Los Angeles in 1986 and spent two seasons with the AHL’s New Haven Nighthawks before helping the Kings reach the Stanley Cup Final in 1993. With Rochester in 1995, Stauber became the third goaltender in AHL history to score a goal, and he was later a two-time AHL All-Star with Portland in 1997 and with Hartford in 1998. After retiring, Stauber won NCAA titles as a goaltending coach with the men’s team at Minnesota (2002, 2003) and the women’s team at the U. of Minnesota-Duluth (2008), and has also been involved in various roles with USA Hockey, including winning gold medals as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship and the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.
Derek Armstrong averaged better than a point per game over parts of seven seasons in the AHL, totaling 136 goals and 238 assists in 364 contests with Worcester, Hartford, Manchester and Peoria. Armstrong was a two-time AHL All-Star (1999, 2000), a league scoring champion and regular-season MVP (2000-01), and earned the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2000 Calder Cup Playoffs when he helped Hartford to the championship. Armstrong also collected 221 points in 477 NHL games over a 17-year pro career which included six seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, for whom he currently serves as director of hockey programming and curriculum.
Tickets for the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport, which include admission to both the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday, Jan. 26, and the AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, Jan. 27, are available now by visiting ontarioreign.com/allstar.
The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 95 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Cam Atkinson, Patrice Bergeron, Jordan Binnington, Ben Bishop, John Carlson, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Connor Hellebuyck, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Andreas Johnsson, Martin Jones, Jonathan Marchessault, Brandon Montour, William Nylander, Kyle Palmieri, Zach Parise, Mikko Rantanen, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Dylan Strome, 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 2018-19, over 7 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America.