Dan Watson named coach for ECHL All-Star Classic

(Toledo, OH) – Head coach Dan Watson has been named as one of the coaches for the 2022 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic hosted by the Jacksonville Icemen on Monday, January 17, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. Newfoundland’s Eric Wellwood will join Watson in the coaching duties. The game will air LIVE exclusively on NHL Network and be streamed via FloHockey.This is the third time that Watson will be coaching in an ECHL All-Star Classic after being behind the bench for the 2017 and 2019 events. He is the sixth coach in ECHL history to work three All-Star contests in a coaching career. Watson and Wellwood were selected by virtue of their teams having the top winning percentages through the games of December 22, 2021.

After serving as an assistant and associate head coach for the first seven years of Walleye hockey, he took over as the third coach in Walleye history prior to the start of the 2016-17 season. Since taking over as head coach he has led the Walleye to the Kelly Cup Finals in 2019 while also bringing home Coach of the Year honors twice (2017-18 and 2018-19). He has led the Walleye to a 194-80-25 record in the regular season while posting a 29-21 record in the postseason.The native of Glencoe, Ontario, played seven professional seasons amassing 447 games in the AHL, ECHL and UHL while scoring 23 goals with 66 assists and 394 penalty minutes. His first professional contract was signed in 2009 with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. The 42-year-old finished his playing career with the Toledo Storm in the 2006-07 season while setting a career best with 25 points (4G, 21A).In this year’s All-Star event, the host Jacksonville Icemen will take on a team of ECHL All-Stars representing the other teams in the League, as well as feature several Skills events which will count as a goal towards the winning Player’s team score. Each team will also have a representative from the Premier Hockey Federation and Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.The 14th class of the ECHL Hall of Fame will be officially inducted at a luncheon, presented by BFL CANADA and Sutton Special Risk, on Monday, Jan. 17 at 12:00 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Florida, the Official Host Hotel of the 2022 ECHL All-Star Classic.For more information on the 2022 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.echlallstarclassic.com.About the ECHLBegan in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces for its 34th season in 2021-22. There have been 710 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 12 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2021-22 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 27 of the 32 NHL teams in 2021-22, marking the 25th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook.