SPRINGFIELD, Mass./PALM DESERT, Calif. … The American Hockey League and Coachella Valley Firebirds will be welcoming Anson Carter and Anthony Stewart from the National Hockey League Player Inclusion Coalition for a community visit at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Palm Desert, Calif., as part of the events at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino.
Carter and Stewart will be joined by several of this year’s AHL All-Stars to participate in a ball hockey clinic on Monday, Feb. 3. At the conclusion of the event, the Firebirds will donate the rink set-up and gear to the school.
Now a studio analyst for Sportsnet and the NHL on TNT, Anson Carter began his pro career with the AHL’s Portland Pirates – where he was an AHL All-Star during the 1996-97 season – and went on to play 674 games in the NHL. Anthony Stewart was a first-round pick in the 2003 NHL Draft who played 237 games in the AHL along with 262 contests in the NHL; he also serves as the chairman of Hockey Equality.
The NHL Player Inclusion Coalition (NHL PIC) is a group of current and former NHL players and women’s professional hockey players who work to advance equality and inclusion in the sport of hockey on and off the ice. Coalition members are advisors, ambassadors and catalysts in the growing movement for inclusion across the hockey community. Since 2020, members of the NHL PIC have taken action to strengthen cultures throughout the game by hosting community events, providing education, investing in grassroots programs and using their platforms to champion positive change.
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.