SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson announced today that NHL Coaches Association members Robert Cathcart III, Laura DiCarlo, Alicia MacDonald and Jose Matamoros have been invited to participate in the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Tech CU, taking place this Sunday and Monday, Feb. 4-5, at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, Calif.
Last season, the AHL launched an initiative to provide young professionals from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to work with, and be mentored by, various staffs in the locker rooms and on the benches at the AHL All-Star Classic.
Cathcart and Matamoros are members of the NHLCA’s BIPOC Coaches Program. Cathcart is an assistant coach with the men’s club hockey team at Canisius College and a volunteer video coach for the women’s hockey program at Buffalo State University. Matamoros is a veteran high school, junior and college coach currently serving as an assistant for the men’s hockey program at Concordia University Wisconsin.
DiCarlo and MacDonald are members of the NHLCA’s Female Coaches Program. DiCarlo is the girls’ varsity hockey head coach at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn., as well as a member of the school’s Teaching and Learning Center. MacDonald is an assistant coach for Hockey Canada’s U-18 female Team Atlantic program, and was selected as a national winner of the BFL Canada Female Coach of the Year award in 2022-23.
They will shadow All-Star coaches Todd Nelson, Trent Vogelhuber, Neil Graham and Trent Cull throughout the event in San Jose.
Additionally, the AHL is pleased to be welcoming Ivanna Anderson-Villela as an operations mentee during the event. Currently pursuing her master’s degree in kinesiology and sport management at San Jose State University, Anderson-Villela will shadow Barracuda marketing and game presentation staff during the All-Star Classic.
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 32 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.