Former Laker Kemp Named AHL All-Star

Photo by Sports Action Photography 

Kemp to Play in American Hockey league All-Star Classic

Former Mercyhurst standout defenseman T.J. Kemp has been chosen to play in the annual American Hockey League All-Star Classic to take place January 28 and 29 in Toronto, Ontario. Kemp is in his first year with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs.

Kemp, 25, leads the Monarchs blueliners in scoring with 20 points (3-17=20) in 36 games this season.  The 5-foot-11, 197-pound native of Pickering, Ontario, is tied for 11th place in the league among defensemen and, with 17 assists, shares the Monarchs assist lead .  Kemp is in his first full season in the AHL as he spent 60 games with the ECHL's Reading Royals and appeared in 14 AHL games with the Peoria Rivermen, Iowa Stars, Milwaukee Admirals and Bridgeport Sound Tigers during the 2005-06 season.

The 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic will take place at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, home of the AHL's Marlies.  The event features the 2007 CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday, January 28 (7:00 ET) and the 2007 AHL All-Star Game on Monday, January 29 (7:00 ET), and will be televised live on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and on a network of regional broadcast partners in the United States.

Of the 394 players to take part in the AHL All-Star Classic since 1995, more than 93 percent have competed in the National Hockey League, including Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes, Daniel Briere, Jonathan Cheechoo, Pavol Demitra, Rick DiPietro, Patrik Elias, Ray Emery, Miikka Kiprusoff, Kari Lehtonen, Ryan Miller, Dwayne Roloson, Marc Savard, Martin St. Louis, Jason Spezza, Eric Staal, Steve Sullivan and Kyle Wellwood.