SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League and Rockford IceHogs will be welcoming AHL and NHL alumni Georges Laraque and Andrew Ference for a community visit at Conklin Academy Elementary School in Rockford, Ill., as part of the events at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO.
The appearance follows last year’s initial partnership between the AHL and the National Hockey League Player Inclusion Coalition to enhance the AHL’s annual All-Star community appearance with the NHL PIC’s player-led approach to community engagement.
Laraque and Ference will be joined on Wednesday, Feb. 11, by several of this year’s AHL All-Stars to teach fundamental hockey skills to students in grades 5-7. The visit is in partnership with the YMCA of Rock River Valley, a recent recipient of a $15,000 grant from the IceHogs Community Fund to support the launching of an NHL Street program at the Good Shepherd YMCA in Rockford later this year.
A radio host, public speaker and member of the NHL PIC, Laraque played 13 seasons in the NHL as well as 144 games with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. Ference, currently the NHL’s Director of Social Impact & Player Programs, was an AHL All-Star as a member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2001 and went on to play more than 900 games in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup championship with the Boston Bruins in 2011.
The NHL Player Inclusion Coalition is a group of current and former NHL players and women’s professional hockey players who work to advance inclusion in the sport of hockey on and off the ice. Coalition members are advisors, ambassadors and catalysts in the growing movement for inclusion across the hockey community. Since 2020, members of the NHL PIC have taken action to strengthen cultures throughout the game by hosting community events, providing education, investing in grassroots programs and using their platforms to champion positive change.
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.
