MANCHESTER, N.H. - It was a breath of sweet air for hockey fans amid the stench of the continued NHL lockout.

The aura of doom and gloom of the pending cancellation of the NHL season was parted for one night when the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Stars held center stage at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Appropriately enough, the contest was settled in a shootout, 5-4 (3-0) in favor of Team PlanetUSA over Team Canada, before a packed house of 9,916. The celebratory event’s teams are broken down into squads: Canadian players against the rest of the world.

"It was fun, no question," said victorious P-USA squad captain Craig Darby of the Springfield Falcons. "We knew a lot of people were watching on TV who haven't been watching hockey all year long. We had to put on a good show for them."

This was perhaps the most watched American Hockey League all-star game in history. Media credentials for the generally popular minor league event were maxed out.  While no numbers for the television coverage were available, this was the most “major” hockey event to be televised this year.

"We were carrying the torch so to speak," said Hilbert of the Providence Bruins, who scored once in regulation and again in the shootout. "We're the only hockey in North America (for one day). Hopefully we gave the fans a show, and… they enjoyed it."

The joy of a major hockey event in Manchester even squelched any potential gripes when local favorite, Monarchs goalie Mathieu Garon, was tagged for the shootout tallies.

"I think a night like tonight is good for the fans," said Garon, one of four Monarchs, two on each side, to play, "but sad for the game, because the NHL is going to stay locked out."

So, What Happened?

It was a low scoring, high energy contest, an AHL All Star rarity.

It had the makings of a Canadian runaway early on.

Instead, after a three goal P-USA response in the second, it turned into that team's first victory since 1999.

Canada roared out to a 4-0 first period lead, roughing up P-USA goalie and MLN FAB50 No. 1 Pick Kari Lehtonen of the Chicago Wolves in the process.

Kyle Wellwood (26) of the St. John's Flames, Maxime Ouellet (18) of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Eric Perrin of the Hershey Bears and Rene Bourque of the Norfolk Admirals accounted for the goals.

Wellwood started it all at 7:09, when he took a nifty cross ice dish from Michael Cammalleri of the Manchester Monarchs and chipped it past Lehtonen.

Less than three minutes later, Ouellet polished off a give and go with Simon Gamache of the Milwaukee Admirals to make it 2-0.

What set up that play was a one-on-one battle between Hilbert, and Bruins linemate Patrice Bergeron.

Bergeron out-dueled Hilbert and sent Bourque on his way.

"I didn't even see that it was Hilbie at first," said Bergeron. "If I knew, I would have given him the puck."

The second period saw almost a complete reversal, with PlanetUSA outshooting Canada 20-6, and putting three goals behind Joey MacDonald of the Grand Rapids Griffins

Tomas Plekanec of the Hamilton Bulldogs, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP), started P-USA on the comeback trail with a wraparound at 3:34.

Hilbert then followed at 6:38, taking a back pass from Ryan Kesler of the Manitoba Moose,then rocketing a 20-footer into a wide open net.

Brandon Bochenski (31) of the Binghamton Senators made it 4-3, after pouncing on a loose puck just outside of the crease.

Then, at 9:42 of the third, Mikko Koivu (19) of the Houston Aeros capped the P-USA comeback, setting the stage for the fireworks in the extra session.

Most minor league All-Star games are soft-soap love-fests, some badly-needed media focus on the best players, a chance for the elite of a league to socialize and kick back before the remainder of the marathon season kicks in.  While this night started out that way, as the night wore on, the players kicked it up a notch.

"It was an up and down game,” said Hilbert.  “Guys were actually trying after a little while. Guys started battling because there was pride on the line to win the game."

Pride, and a little money. For it's winning effort, PlanetUSA members each earned all of $500. The Canadians went home with nothing.

"Everyone's competitive out here," said Canada's Steve Eminger of the Portland Pirates. "I guess the competitiveness took over. Everybody wanted to win that game."

A fact that was not lost on the grateful hockey fans at home who briefly satisfied their hockey jones.

Players with hot links are featured in the MLN FAB50™2005 Hockey Top 50. Numbers (1) next to names are their FAB50 rankings.