Top 10 Moments: Dostal Steals The Show At 2023 AHL All-Star Classic

Jun 16, 2023

By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com

With the 2022-23 season in the books, SanDiegoGulls.com looks back at some of the biggest moments, from individual highlights to impressive theme nights and more. Today we continue our Top-10 Moments series, spotlighting Lukas Dostal and his appearance at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic.

Laval wasn’t ready for Lukas Dostal.

In the frigid temperatures of a gray Canadian winter, San Diego’s lone All Star representative shone bright, stealing the show and the headlines for the Pacific Division.

Dostal earned the All Star nomination, the first of his American Hockey League career, after posting a 3.04 goals-against average (GAA), .910 save percentage (SV%) and three shutouts in 33 games with the Gulls prior to the league’s midseason break. As of Feb. 5 of the 2022-23 campaign, the netminder ranked tied for second among qualified goaltenders in shutouts and second in saves (913).

He met the crowd in Laval following a cross-continent flight, stepping into the cold and onto the red carpet outside of Place Bell before the league’s All Star Skills Competition on Feb. 5. After some time spent in the locker room meeting and chatting with his new teammates – and his Central Division foes – Dostal joined the others for a series of skill-based challenges, wowing the crowd with several great saves during the event. He even participated in one of the more heartwarming moments of the evening, allowing Gabriel Dumont’s son to score on him in the breakaway challenge, bringing the sold-out crowd to its feet.

Afterward – during an autograph signing for fans – Dostal reveled in an odd request. A young fan tossed him a Tomáš Plekanec Montreal Canadiens jersey for him to sign. The young netminder played with the veteran in Czechia during the 2018-19 season and remembered fondly the lessons learned in their one season together. Dostal took a picture with the jersey before signing it and tossing it back over the glass.

Dostal and the Pacific Division returned to Place Bell Arena on Saturday night, looking to take home the title in the league’s Mise-o-jeu AHL All-Star Challenge. The division had never won the league’s 3-on-3, best-on-best skills tournament. It only appeared in one final, back in 2018, and dropped the championship matchup in a 1-0 loss.

Dostal made sure his side would take home the title this time around.

In tandem with Calgary’s Dustin Wolf, the Pacific Division ran the table at the tournament, with Dostal making plenty of big-time stops and sending breakout passes up the ice with regularity. The two combined to stop 46 of 49 shots throughout the round robin tournament, earning their team a spot in the final against the Atlantic Division.

Dostal and Wolf once again stood tall in the final, blanking the Atlantic 1-0 to clinch the Pacific’s first-ever Challenge title. The performance earned them co-Most Valuable Player awards, the first in Dostal’s career and the first in San Diego’s AHL history. The Brno, Czechia native is the second consecutive goaltender to win the award, following Vitek Vanecek (Atlantic) in 2020. In addition, Dostal recorded two assists, tying Christopher Gibson (2018, Atlantic) for the most helpers in an All-Star Challenge/Game (since 1995). Dostal is the third San Diego goaltender to participate in the AHL’s midseason skills showcase, joining Kevin Boyle (2019, Springfield) and Anthony Stolarz (2020, Ontario).

With the weekend behind him, Dostal returned to Southern California ready for a second-half push. His return stay with the Gulls was a short one, as he joined the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 11 and stayed with the NHL team for the remainder of the regular season.