East wins All-Star Classic in record fashion

February 3, 2010

By Aaron Bell

Andrew Agozzino has suddenly become a big fan of Stan Butler.

Agozzino, the third-year sniper from the Niagara IceDogs, set an OHL All-Star Game record for most goals when he scored four and added an assist to lead the Eastern Conference to a 17-10 win over the Western Conference on Wednesday in Kingston.

Agozzino credited Butler - the GM and head coach of the Brampton Battalion and Team East - for putting Agozzino together on a line with Ottawa 67's teammates Tyler Toffoli and Cody Lindsay.

"Stan's a genius it looks like," said Agozzino, who bettered the previous all-star record of three goals set by Scott Barney of the Peterborough Petes in 1999 and tied by Hunter Tremblay of the Barrie Colts in 2007, and matched by Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion and Justin DiBenedetto of the Sarnia Sting last season.  "There was instant chemistry with us three."

The teams also combined to set a new record for the most goals scored in a game. The previous high was 22 goals set in 2007 in Saginaw.

"It was a lot of fun," Agozzino said. "I played with a lot of great players out there and got to play on the same line as a couple of special players so it was a lot of fun."

Team West captain Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires predicted that the Western Conference would win the game after losing four straight to the East. Agozzino said that the Eastern Conference squad was determined to extend their winning streak.

"Playing in the East - we're a bit of an underdog with the guys in the west always thinking they're better," Agozzino said. "We didn't let anybody know but we took that to heart. We were playing to win."

Ethan Werek of the Kingston Frontenacs scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the win and said that it was special to play the game on home ice in the K-Rock Centre.

"It was an amazing experience," said Werek, who scored two goals in the Eastern Conference's win in Windsor last year. "Our fans were great and really supported the guys. It was great playing with some really good guys and it was a lot of fun."

The East outshot the West 55-50 for the second highest shot total in game history. The teams combined for 109 shots in 2007. Werek said that it was difficult to stay focused with all of the goals being scored.

"You just have to remind yourself that you want to compete hard but you don't really want to run anybody over," Werek said. "It was a lot of fun. It's a real skilled game and the fans really got their money's worth tonight."

Zack Torquato of the Erie Otters was the Team West player of the game after scoring three goals and adding two assists to tie the single game record for most points in a game along with Agozzino.

"Any time you can come to these events, it's a pretty cool experience," said Torquato, who didn't get a point when he played in the All-Star Game as a sophomore in 2007 in Saginaw. "I really wanted to come to Kingston for this event and put on a good show. It was a great experience."

Cody Lindsay and Tyler Toffoli of the Ottawa 67's each produced five-point games as did Alex Hutchings and Stefan Della Rovere of the Barrie Colts.  Toffoli's five points were all assists to also tie an All-Star Game record for most assists in one game set previously by Dan Tessier of the 67's in 1999 and Eric Lindros of the Oshawa Generals in 1991.  With five points, Hutchings has seven career points over three straight All-Star Games as does Colts' defenceman Alex Pietrangelo.  Both Hutchings and Pietrangelo match career points records set by Steven Stamkos of the Sarnia Sting (07,08), Justin Papineau of the Belleville Bulls (98,99,00), and former Colt Bryan Little (05,06,07). 

Game Summary

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Tags: 2010 OHL All-Star Classic