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Devils Make Roster Moves

In an article on the Devils’ official app today discussing the team’s practice this morning before heading to Columbus for Saturday’s game at the Blue Jackets, team reporter Catherine Bogart mentioned some roster changes New Jersey made prior to taking the ice.

Alexander Holtz and Kevin Bahl were reassigned to the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League while AJ Greer and Colton White were recalled from Utica.

Bogart mentioned that Greer and White were joined by Jesper Boqvist, Nolan Foote, Christian Jaros, Marian Studenic, Ty Smith and Jon Gillies for practice today.

Chalk this up to other news that I neglected to mention last week. in addition to being named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week, the NHLPA tweeted on January 3 that Jack Hughes was named the NHLPA’s Player of the Week.

That achievement was based on having multi-point games in the Devils’ three wins for that week. He was tied for first in NHL scoring with two-straight three-point games against the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers.

Off course, he added a multi-point game (a goal and two assists for three points) last night in the Devils’ 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Devils will be at it again tomorrow night this time in Columbus in the Ohio-half of a home-and-home with the Blue Jackets.

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AHL All-Star Classic Canceled for 2022

According to a news item on the American Hockey League’s official website (TheAHL.com), the 2022 AHL All-Star Classic has been “postponed” beyond 2022.

The event was originally scheduled for February 6 and 7, 2022 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec and will not be held this season. The announcement was made by AHL President and CEO Scott Howson.

Howson said that the postponement was “due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Howson was directly quoted as saying: “The Laval Rocket and Place Bell have done an outstanding job preparing to host our All-Star Classic festivities this year. But with the event only six weeks away and faced with ongoing challenges pertaining to health and safety, international travel, and group gatherings, the League and the Rocket organization feel it is in everybody’s best interests to postpone the event. We remain committed to bringing the All-Star Classic to Laval in the future.”

President of Sports and Entertainment at Groupe CH (Laval’s ownership), France Margaret Belanger added: “Postponing the All-Star Classic for a second year is disappointing, but unfortunately unavoidable in the circumstances. This is one of the most prestigious events in the AHL and we look forward to hosting this major event at Place Bell. We are very grateful to our fans and partners for their loyalty during this difficult time. We also want to thank the American Hockey League for their confidence and their collaboration on this project.”

This is the second straight year that the AHL has attempted to bring their All-Star Classic to Laval and the second straight year that COVID has wiped it out. The 2021 event was to be held in the same building but when the 20219-20 AHL season was ended early and the 2020-21 season needed to be readjusted, the 2021 All-Star Classic was a casualty.

The announcement of the cancelation of the 2021 Classic was made in August of 2020, and the 2022 game was immediately awarded to Laval as a make good from the AHL.

Time will tell if the third time is a charm or if the AHL or Laval push things down the road a bit and do not attempt to bring the game to the city next year.