The Northern Lights ...[The Lamp]
Southern Conference can't keep up in ECHL All-Star Game.

Estero, Fla. - One of the highlights of the ECHL All-Star weekend is the All-Star Skills Competition.

Held the day before the actual all-star game, the competition pits both conferences against each other in various contests such as a puck control relay, fastest skater, and hardest shot.

The Northern Conference used their superior shooting in the accuracy contest to win the overall skills competition.

Their superior shooting didn't stop there...in fact, the next day the North picked up just where they left off.

The Northern Conference defeated the Southern Conference 8-2 in the 2003 ECHL All-Star Game in front of 6,442 fans at TECO Arena on Tuesday, Jan 21.

The two goals for the South were the fewest goals ever in an All-Star Game, bettering a 10-year-old record, and the six-goal margin of victory was also the largest ever.

Atlantic City goalie Scott Stirling was the game's Most Valuable Player, stopping 11 shots in a perfect first period.

Toledo's Nick Parillo scored twice, and it seemed everyone got into the act as seven different players had a goal for the North.

Six more players had two points, while just three on the Northern squad were held without a point.

Columbia's Justin Morrison scored both goals for the Southern Conference.

Peoria's Tyler Rennette got the North on the board at the 4:11 mark, and it could have been 2-0 with 1:52 left had it not been for a big play by Louisiana's Rod Sarich.

Charlotte rookie Takahito Suzuki had three good shots on Florida netminder Rob Zepp, and as the puck was about to cross the goal line, Sarich swatted it away.

The North finally did extend to a 2-0 lead with just 48 seconds left in the 1st, as Reading's Brian McCullough's pass towards the net deflected off Florida's Marty Johnston -Zepp's teammate -and into the net.

The star of the first period was Atlantic City goaltender Scott Stirling, who shut out the Northern Conference on 11 shots. Zepp made 15 saves in the first.

Play opened up a bit in the second period. Dayton's Andrew Ianiero made it 3-0 North 8:41 in against Pee Dee's Matt Underhill, but Morrison finally got the South on the board 33 seconds later versus Richmond's Dan Lombard.

But Toledo's Nick Parillo put the lead back at three goals at the 11:47 mark, taking advantage of a turnover in the South's zone.

Referee Ryan Fraser drew the ire of the Southern Conference faithful when he called a penalty on J.J. Hunter in the second period, a rarity for an All-Star Game.

The North responded on the power play, getting a goal from Richmond's John Zion with 53 seconds left in the second.

Lombard made 12 saves in the second, while Underhill turned aside 10 shots.

Wheeling's Chris McNamara scored on a breakaway at 2:23 of the third, as the puck trickled through Jackson's Adam Hauser's pads.

Morrison scored on a breakaway, deking Lexington's Mike Smith to the ground, on an assist from teammate Rejean Stringer, at 4:09 of the third, to get the South within 6-2.

Richmond's Jamie Herrington scored all alone against Hauser at 6:40, making it 7-2.

Fraser called another penalty in the third, against Johnstown's Pierre-Luc Courchesne.

Parillo finished the scoring with his second of the game with 4:28 left.

Hauser had 10 saves in the third, while Mike Smith turned aside 17 shots.

Four players - Jason Jaffray, Zenon Konopka, J.J. Hunter and Mike Smith - were called up to the AHL following the all-star game.