Mountain Division wins 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic

(Courtesy of the ECHL)

INDIANAPOLIS - The Mountain Division All-Stars defeated the South Division All-Stars 6-5 in a shootout in the championship game of the 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic.

The 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic featured not two, but four teams, representing each of the League's divisions. In a format similar to those adapted by the NHL and AHL All-Star Games, the four teams competed in a 3-on-3 tournament in order to crown a winner.

South Carolina's Taylor Cammarata earned Most Valuable Player honors, totaling five goals and two assists in the two games.

In the championship game, the South got goals from Jacksonville's Christopher Dienes and Norfolk's Grant Besse in the final two minutes of regulation to tie the game, sending the contest to a shootout. In the shootout, Utah's Cliff Watson scored while Cammarata was stopped, clinching the win for the Mountain.

ECHL All-Star Classic Game Summaries

Semifinal 1 - South Division All-Stars 3 vs. North Division All-Stars 1

Semifinal 2 - Mountain Division All -Stars 5 vs. Central Division All-Stars 2

Championship - Mountain Division All-Stars 6 vs. South Division All-Stars 5 (SO)

In semifinal game one, Cammarata scored two goals and Martin Ouellette of the Florida Everblades stopped 11 of the 12 North Division shots to lead the South Division All-Stars to a 3-1 win.

The second semifinal game saw the Mountain Division defeat the Central Division 5-2. Five different players tallied goals in the victory and Wichita's Shane Starrett turned aside 16 shots in goal.

The BlueIndy/ECHL All-Star Skills Competition was held between the second semifinal game and the championship game.

In the fastest skater event, Cincinnati's Justin Danforth won the event with a new ECHL All-Star Skills Competition record of 12.75 seconds. Wheeling's Cody Wydo finished second with 13.04 seconds.

Starrett was the winner of the Rapid Fire Shootout Challenge with nine saves on 10 shots. Indy's Etienne Marcoux finished second with eight saves.

The final skills event was the hardest shot competition, which was won by Orlando's Nolan Valleau with a shot of 97 miles per hour. Cliff Watson of Utah was second at 95 miles per hour.