Springfield, Massachusetts …American Hockey League announces head coach today Ryan Mognell Providence Bruins, Pascal Vincent laval rocket, Dan Watson Grand Rapids Griffins and Mark Lightstu Colorado Eagles get coaching honors BMO presents 2026 AHL All-Star Classicwill be held February 10-11 in Rockford, Illinois.
The Bruins, Rockets, Griffins and Hawks will all have the best records in their respective conferences as of the scheduled deadline (end of play on January 11).
Ryan Mognell Providence will lead the Atlantic Division All-Stars to a 24-6-1-0 record (49 points, .790), the best record in the Eastern Conference. Mugnell is entering his eighth season with the Bruins, three of them (2018-21) as an assistant coach and the final five as head coach. He served as an assistant coach with the Hershey Bears (2013-14), Worcester Sharks (2014-15) and San Jose Barracuda (2015-18) and coached in the ECHL for eight years. This is the first time Muginer has been selected to the AHL All-Star Classic.
As an outstanding AHL coach, he won the Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award twice (2017-18, 2024-25). Pascal Vincent Laval will lead the North Division as it has a record of 22-11-0-1 (45 points, .662) so far in the 2025-26 season. Vincent joined the Rockets last season from Columbus, where he spent the 2023-24 season as head coach after two seasons as an associate coach with the NHL Blue Jackets. He previously spent 10 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, including five years as head coach of the AHL's Manitoba Moose, and will compete in his second AHL All-Star Classic after coaching the Central Division in 2018.
Dan Watson Representing the Griffins in their second consecutive AHL All-Star Classic, the Griffins have lost just two regular season games through their first 33 games (29 wins, 2 draws, 1 tie, 60 points, .909) after a record-setting start to the 2025-26 season. Watson's club also leads the AHL in goals scored (3.76 per game), goals conceded (1.76 per game) and penalty kill efficiency (87.5%). This is his third season as head coach in Grand Rapids and his 17th season as head coach in Grand Rapids.th He held various positions with the Toledo Walleyes of the ECHL from 2009 to 2023 and played full seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.
Rookie head coach Mark Lightstu He will lead the Pacific Division with the Colorado Eagles' 21-7-1-2 record (45 points, .726). Letestu was named to the Eagles' position on July 5, 2025, after spending four years as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Monsters, helping the club win the division title in 2023-24 and reach the Eastern Conference Finals that spring. Letestu's 13-year career included 567 games in the NHL and 255 games in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Cleveland.
this BMO presents 2026 AHL All-Star Classic Includes AHL All-Star Skills Competition Tuesday, February 10followed by the AHL Hall of Fame induction ceremony and awards ceremony Wednesday, February 11 and the night's 2026 AHL All-Star Challenge. The skills competition consists of seven skill competitions between all-star players from the two eastern divisions and all-star players from the two western divisions. The All-Star Challenge is a round-robin, 3-on-3 competition between four divisions to determine the All-Star champion. For ticket information, fans can visit icehogs.com/asc26.
this BMO presents 2026 AHL All-Star Classic Will Feature the NHL's Top Young Talent: Since 1995, more than 94% of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to play in the NHL, including Yaroslav Askarov, Derek Basson, Jordan Binnington, John Carlson, Brent Clark, Thatcher Demko, Lucas Dostal, Riker Evans, Thomas Harley, Connor Helleback, Joel Hofer, Tristan Jarry, Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Marchessault, Jacob Markstrom, JT Miller, Brandon Montour, William Nyland, Kyle Palmieri, Mikko Rantanen, Dylan Strome, Tyler Toffoli, Linus Ullmark, Dustin Wolf and Mats Zuccarello.
The American Hockey League has been in operation since 1936 and is the top developmental league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 32 National Hockey League teams. Today, nearly 90 percent of NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honorary members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent their careers in the AHL.
