Published January 31. 2017 02:46PM
AHL all-stars divided into four teams, each representing one of the league's divisions, played in a three-on-three round-robin format Monday night to determine the league's All-Star Classic Champion.
The home crowd fans were encouraged when the Atlantic Division, featuring three players from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, reached the finals with a perfect 3-0 record.While much of the night was a high-scoring affair, the championship game came down to a scoreless tie at the end of regulation, leading to a shootout. Again, the goalies were prevailing through the first three rounds of shootouts. Finally, Matt Lorito of the Grand Rapids Griffins put the puck past Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Tristan Jarry to give the Central Division the 1-0 win and their second straight All-Star Challenge Championship.While the loss was disappointing for Phantoms fans, they were elated when one of their own, Taylor Leier, was named the All-Star Challenge MVP. Leier, the 22-year-old Flyers prospect playing in his first all-star game, scored three goals on the night. The game topped off a weekend full of fan events and skills challenges for the players."It was an exceptional weekend. Lehigh Valley did a tremendous job," said Leier. "Our organization, I think took a lot of pride in this weekend and it was great for everyone. It was great for the fan base, it was great for Allentown as a city."The Phantoms T.J. Brennan had a goal and an assist while teammate Jordan Weal. had one goal on the night.Earlier in the day, former Phantoms standout Rob Murray was one of four new inductees to the league's Hall of Fame. Billy Dea, Bryan Helmer and Doug Yingst were also inducted.Dea played 10 seasons in the AHL, Helmer is the league's all-time scoring leader among defensemen and Yingst had a 34-year career as an executive with the Hershey Bears.Murray played in the league for 15 seasons before moving to the bench as a head coach in the league for eight seasons.