(Rochester, NY) – The American Hockey League announced today that Rochester Americans forward Cole Schneider and goaltender Linus Ullmark have been named to the North Division All-Star roster for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, which will take place Jan. 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
This will mark the first AHL All-Star appearance for Schneider, who currently leads the Amerks and is tied for second in the league in scoring with 34 points (14+20) in 28 games this season. The Williamsville, New York, native has compiled a team-high 12 multi-point games in 2016-17, including a pair of four-point outings, while also leading the club with a plus-eight rating. His 14 goals entering the New Year are tied for seventh in the AHL and his 20 assists are 12th-most among league leaders.
Now in his fifth pro season, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound forward has amassed 239 points (101+138) over 310 career American Hockey League games with Rochester and Binghamton. Since being acquired by the Buffalo Sabres in a seven-player trade with the Ottawa Senators last February, the 26-year-old Schneider has totaled 48 points (18+30) in 47 appearances with the Amerks. Schneider has also recorded one assist in six career NHL games with the Sabres, including four this season, while averaging close to nine minutes of ice time with the big club.
Ullmark, who also earns his first AHL All-Star selection, has been a mainstay between the pipes for Rochester this season, having started six straight and 22 of the past 26 games dating back to Nov. 4. A sixth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2012, Ullmark boasts a 13-12-1 record with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 26 games. A 23-year-old native of Lugnvik, Sweden, Ullmark has won three of his last four starts and currently leads all AHL goaltenders in saves (731), shots against (806) and minutes played (1,502) while ranking fifth in the league with 13 wins.
In his second season in Rochester, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound netminder owns a career AHL record of 23-28-1 with a 3.21 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Last season, the former Swedish Goalie of the Year made his North American debut while splitting time between the Amerks and Sabres. In 20 contests with Buffalo, he went 8-10-0 to go along with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage while also posting a 10-16-0 record with a 3.41 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 28 games for Rochester.
The two-day event begins on Sunday, Jan. 29 with the 2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan at 7:30 p.m. In keeping with its traditional format, the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions will be squaring off against the All-Stars from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge will then take place on the evening of Monday, Jan. 30. For the second straight year, instead of a traditional 60-minute game, the league’s all-stars will be divided into four teams, one representing each of the league’s divisions (Atlantic, North, Central, Pacific). The teams will then play a round-robin tournament featuring six games of 10 minutes each played entirely at 3-on-3. The two teams with the best records at the end of the round-robin tournament will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played using the 3-on-3 format. Rosters for each team will be composed of 11 skaters and two goaltenders each. Last year’s inaugural All-Star Challenge was won by the Central Division.
