Laraque and Ference join AHL All-Stars for community visit

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League and Rockford IceHogs welcome AHL and NHL alumni Georges Laraque And Andreas Ference for a community visit Conklin Academy Primary School in Rockford, Illinois, as part of the events during the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO.

The performance follows last year’s first collaboration between the AHL and the National Hockey League Player Inclusion Coalition to enhance the annual performance of the AHL’s All-Star community with the NHL PIC’s player-led approach to community engagement.

Laraque and Ference will be joined by some of this year’s AHL All-Stars on Wednesday, February 11, 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 launch 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 and 144 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. 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 committed to promoting inclusion in the sport of hockey on and off the ice. Coalition members are advisors, ambassadors and catalysts in the growing movement for inclusion in the hockey community. Since 2020, members of the NHL PIC have taken action to strengthen cultures in play by hosting community events, providing education, investing in grassroots programs and using their platforms to advocate positive change.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the premier development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of current NHL players are graduates of the American Hockey League, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame have spent time in the AHL during their careers.