Honka Named to AHL's All-Star Classic
Jan 5, 2017
Honka to make First All-Star Appearance in his Career
CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, announced today that defenseman Julius Honka been selected to represent the team at the AHL’s 2017 All-Star Classic, presented by Capital BlueCross.
Honka, 21, will be making the first All-Star Game appearance of his career. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound defenseman has tallied 16 points (3-13=16) in 23 games this season with Texas. Honka (HAHN-kuh) also tallied three assists in eight games on his first career NHL call-up with the Dallas Stars earlier this season.
The Jyvaskyla, Finland native was selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft (14th overall).
The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic will be hosted in Lehigh Valley, Penn. this season. The event will begin on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET with the 2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition. All-Stars from the Eastern Conference will square off against All-Stars from the Western Conference in seven skills events, including hardest shot, fastest skater and accuracy shooting.
Monday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. ET, the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge will take place. The league’s all-stars will be divided into four teams, representing each of the league’s divisions (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific), and the teams will participate in a round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each, played entirely at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played at 3-on-3. Last year’s inaugural All-Star Challenge was won by the Central Division.
Rosters for each team will be comprised of 10 skaters and two goaltenders each. All 30 AHL teams will be represented by at least one All-Star player.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, and are currently playing their eighth season at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Full season, 24-game, 12-game and six-game ticket packages for the 2016-17 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.