SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Ontario Reign forward T.J. Tynan, Hershey Bears forward Ethen Frank and Iowa Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt have been selected as the league’s award winners for January.
Tynan, Frank and Wallstedt are all scheduled to represent their teams at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Bell in collaboration with Manulife Bank this weekend in Laval, Que.
Tynan, the AHL Player of the Month, skated in 14 games for Ontario during January and totaled three goals and 22 assists for 25 points – the most in a calendar month by any AHL player in more than six years.
Tynan had eight multiple-point games during the month, beginning on Jan. 11 when he tallied three assists in a 6-3 win at Henderson. He recorded a goal and two assists in a 7-3 victory at Colorado on Jan. 17, and assisted on all four Reign goals in an overtime loss to Coachella Valley on Jan. 21. Tynan matched that four-assist effort in a 7-2 win at San Diego on Jan. 28 and brings an eight-game scoring streak into February, with 19 points over that span.
Tynan is the first player to record 25 points in a month since the Chicago Wolves’ Kenny Agostino in December 2016. After entering January tied for 26th in the AHL in scoring, Tynan now ranks second with 53 points – including a league-leading 47 assists – in 41 games for the Reign. The two-time defending league MVP and native of Orland Park, Ill., has skated in 539 AHL games over nine pro seasons and has recorded 91 goals and 408 assists for 499 points. Originally a third-round choice by Columbus in the 2011 NHL Draft, Tynan signed a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings on June 14, 2022.
Frank, the AHL Rookie of the Month, registered seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 10 games for Hershey during January.
Frank recorded two assists in a 4-3 win over Syracuse on Jan. 8, the beginning of a six-game scoring streak. He scored a pair of goals to help the Bears to a 5-3 win over Springfield on Jan. 13, and scored again in a 6-2 win over the Thunderbirds a night later. Frank had another two-goal game on Jan. 21 as Hershey rallied for a 4-2 victory at Belleville, and he notched two goals and two assists in the Bears’ 7-3 win at Lehigh Valley on Jan. 28.
Frank leads all AHL rookies with 20 goals and ranks second with 35 points in 35 games for Hershey this season. The 24-year-old native of Papillion, Neb., signed with Hershey on Apr. 11, 2022, after five seasons at Western Michigan University, where he led the nation with 26 goals and earned Second Team All-American honors in 2021-22.
Wallstedt, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, won all six of his starts in January and allowed only seven goals on 165 shots, good for a 1.16 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.
Wallstedt made 20 saves in a 2-1 overtime win over Rockford on Jan. 7, and stopped 33 shots in a 4-1 win over the IceHogs the next afternoon. On Jan. 13, he earned his first career AHL shutout, making 24 saves to backstop the Wild to a 4-0 win at Grand Rapids. He posted 36 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory over Milwaukee on Jan. 20, and finished the month with a 21-save performance in a 5-2 win over league-leading Coachella Valley on Jan. 28.
The 20-year-old rookie has a record of 12-7-3 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 22 appearances for Iowa this season. Wallstedt was a first-round pick (20th overall) by Minnesota in the 2021 NHL Draft and played the last two seasons for Lulea HF in the Swedish Hockey League. The native of Vasteras, Sweden, was voted the Best Goaltender at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he helped Sweden earn a bronze medal.
