SHREWSBURY, NJ. — The Orlando Solar Bears, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, announced Wednesday in conjunction with the ECHL, forward Spencer Kersten has been selected to the 2026 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic to be hosted by the Allen Americans on Monday, Jan. 19 at 6:00 p.m. CT at Credit Union of Texas Event Center.
Kersten, 25, is second in ECHL scoring and leads the Solar Bears in goals (15), assists (19), and points (34).
Kersten was the second Solar Bear in history to be named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team during the 2024-25 season, joining Joseph Gareffa, who tallied 21 points in 41 games during the 2020-21 season.
The Waterloo, ON native had a historic first full professional season, scoring 55 points to set a new Solar Bears rookie single-season scoring record, passing T.J. Foster from the 2015-16 campaign.
Kersten signed a one-year AHL contract with the Crunch prior to the start of the 2025-26 season.
Prior to his professional career, Kersten appeared in 36 games during the 2023-24 season at Bowling Green State University, scoring 16 points (9g-7a). The 5-foot-10, 187-pound forward played at Princeton University from 2019-2023, scoring 38 points (15g-23a) in 93 games, while captaining the 2022-23 team.During his time at Princeton, Kersten was a three-time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Academic player.
There have been 75 players from the ECHL All-Star Game have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 59 since 2002.
The ECHL All-Stars were determined in a vote of coaches, team captains, media relations directors, broadcasters and members of the media.
Solar Bears ECHL All-Star Classic Player Selection History:
Season – Host – Solar Bears Representative
2012-13 – Colorado Eagles – C.J. Severyn (Replaced Nick Petersen)
2013-14 – No game
2014-15 – Orlando Solar Bears – Solar Bears roster (host team)
2015-16 – No game
2016-17 – Adirondack Thunder – Tony Cameranesi (did not play)
2017-18 – Indy Fuel – Nolan Valleau
2018-19 – Toledo Walleye – Brent Pedersen (alternate, did not play)
2019-20 – Wichita Thunder – Michael Brodzinski
2020-21 – No game
2021-22 – Jacksonville Icemen – Brad Barone, Aaron Luchuk
2022-23 – Norfolk Admirals – Michael Brodzinski
2023-24 - Savannah Ghost Pirates - Mitchell Hoelscher
2024-25 - No game - Aaron Luchuk
2025-26 - Allen Americans - Spencer Kersten
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