Doyle: OHL All-Star Notebook

Here are a few news and notes from the OHL All-Star Festivities in Kingston.

...

Trash talking: The people who put together the All-Star Game want the players to take the end result seriously and take pride in playing for their conference. Windsor's Ryan Ellis dropped the gauntlet during the opening reception when he told his Eastern Conference counterparts that they had no chance in either the Skills Competition or All-Star Game. Alex Pietrangelo of Barrie targeted the attempt at facial hair Ellis was sporting, "I don't know if we'll be bad, but I know we won't be as bad as that neck beard."

***
Almost Replace the replacements: A couple of the players who were late additions to the Eastern Conference squad almost had to be replaced themselves. Peterborough's Pat Daley was injured during Friday night's game here in Kingston and was scratched for Saturday's home game vs. Ottawa. He was named to the team when teammate Ryan Spooner went down with a broken collarbone. Meanwhile, Oshawa Generals defenceman Tony DeHart was feeling under the weather at the start of the week but was cleared by doctors to attend the game. He stepped in when Calvin de Haan was lost for the season with a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery.

***
All-Star FebFest: The OHL All-Star Classic is part of Kingston's FebFest. It is a winter carnival going on in the city. Monday's events included a performance by former World Figure Skating champion Elvis Stojko at the market square outdoor ice surface. On Tuesday afternoon, the Stanley Cup was on display along with plenty of public skating. The highlight for some was a Beavertails booth set up - I recommend going with the Avalanche, which is cream cheese icing and bits of Skor.

***

OHL Alumni Watch - Leafs style: Toronto Maple Leafs fans may have been having a bit of a flashback while watching the alumni game. The starting lineup for the OHL team had Doug Gilmour at centre with Steve Thomas and Warren Rychel on the wings. The trio never did play together with the Leafs, but Rychel and Thomas were both teammates of Gilmour in Toronto at some point during their NHL career.

***
Heading North?: Do not be surprised to see the OHL All-Star Classic remain in the Eastern Conference next season. Sudbury is the favourite to host in 2011, and the Wolves have a group on-hand to take in the Kingston event.

tdoyle@loosepucks.com
Twitter: Loosepucks