Weather impacted travel as the All-Stars of the AHL lit up San Jose.
Weather woes notwithstanding, it was a fine night in San Jose for the 2024 AHL All-Star Skills Competition.
The best in the American League congregated at the Tech CU Arena for seven events of speed, power and skill.
Ontario Reign rookie Brandt Clarke and Colorado Eagles forward Riley Tufte led the Western Conference to an 18-13 win in the 2024 AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday evening at Tech CU Arena.
Clarke became the fifth AHL player ever to hit four targets in four attempts in the Sharks Ice Accuracy Shooting event, and also earned a point for the Western Conference by defeating his older brother Graeme Clarke of the Utica Comets in an Inglasco Puck Control Relay heat.
Tufte won the CCM Hardest Shot competition with a blast clocked at 100.9 miles per hour, one-tenth of a second better than Hershey Bears captain Dylan McIlrath. The Bears’ Ethen Frank won his second consecutive CCM Fastest Skater title with a time of 13.032 seconds; only his record-setting lap of 12.915 seconds in 2023 has been faster in the event’s history.
Jesper Wallstedt of the Iowa Wild and Jet Greaves of the Cleveland Monsters shared CCM Top Goaltender honors by stopping 15 of 18 shots each over three goaltending events.
The weather was a factor, as five previously scheduled stars missed the competition due to weather-related travel issues.
Charlotte's Lucas Carlsson, Abbotsford's Arshdeep Bains, Providence's Georgii Merkulov and Rochester's Isak Rosen and Jiri Kulich all missed Sunday's event. However, all are expected to take part in Monday's All-Star Challenge.