Alaska Aces veteran right winger Peter Sivak, who leads the ECHL in goals, was named an All-Star Classic starter Tuesday, when the hockey club also revealed several roster moves.
Sivak, the 34-year-old Slovakian sniper who is a naturalized American citizen, was selected to play in the ECHL All-Star Classic in Glen Falls, New York, later this month.
Sivak, who is tied for second in the league in points with 24-21—45 totals in 30 games, has spearheaded the Aces to an 18-7-5 start. He's generated five multiple-goal games, including one hat trick, and 16 multiple-point games. Sivak also leads the team in plus-minus with a plus-15 rating and ranks third on the circuit in shots on goal (144).
The All-Star Classic, which will pit the All-Stars against the host Adirondack Thunder, is set for Jan. 18. Anchorage's Tanner Sorenson, who plays for the Kalamazoo Wings and owns 7-8—15 totals in 32 games, was named an alternate forward.
Sivak has combined with second-year center Stephen Perfetto to torment opposing goaltenders. Sivak holds down a spot on Alaska's first power-play unit and also kills penalties. In 2014, he helped the Aces win the third Kelly Cup in franchise history and was a first-team All-ECHL pick that season.
Also Tuesday, the Aces announced the Vancouver Canucks have assigned rookie goaltender Michael Garteig back to the club and the Utica Comets, Alaska's American Hockey League affiliate, has loaned it forward Marco Roy.
Garteig has been up with Utica since late November. He went 0-1-2 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .907 save percentage for the Comets. Garteig for the Aces is 7-1-0, 2.39, .926, with one shutout.
Roy, a second-year pro and former second-round NHL draft pick, owns 1-3—4 totals in 12 games with Utica.
The Aces on Tuesday also announced defenseman Marc-Andre Levesque, the club's second-leading scorer among blueliners, has been put on the 21-day injured reserve. Levesque, who in 26 games owns 1-13—14 totals and a plus-12 rating that is second on the club to Sivak, suffered an upper-body injury in Alaska's 6-4 win over visiting Colorado on Sunday.
Placing Levesque on IR frees roster space for the Aces to keep rookie goaltender Lukas Hafner, who in Garteig's absence went 3-0-2, 2.13, .939. Keeping three goalies is unusual, but Hafner has shined for Alaska and would surely be picked up by another ECHL team should the Aces release him.
The Aces won two of three games against Colorado last week.
They open a three-game road series against the Idaho Steelheads on Wednesday at 5:10 p.m. AST.