He joins Rochester teammates Cole Schneider and Linus Ullmark as the trio will represent the North Division.
The American Hockey League announced on Sunday that Rochester Americans forward Justin Bailey has been named to the playing roster for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, which begins tonight at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Bailey will represent the North Division All-Stars alongside forward Cole Schneider and goaltender Linus Ullmark, who are also making their first AHL All-Star appearances.
In his second season with the Amerks, the 21-year-old Bailey is currently tied for sixth in the AHL with a team-best 18 goals and ranks third among all Rochester skaters with 28 points in 38 games this season. A native of Williamsville, New York, Bailey has 10 goals in his last 12 games, including an AHL-best seven-game goal-scoring streak and a career-long eight-game point streak over that span.
In 108 career games for Rochester, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound forward has amassed 73 points on 38 goals and 35 assists. The reigning Amerks Rookie of the Year has also appeared in 17 contests with the Buffalo Sabres, including nine this season, scoring his first NHL goal back on Jan. 3 in Buffalo’s 4-1 over the New York Rangers.
Bailey was drafted by the Sabres in the second-round (52nd overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
The 2017 All-Star rosters now feature 39 first-time participants, 12 AHL rookies and 15 former first- and second-round NHL draft choices. In addition, 28 of this year’s All-Stars have been recalled to the National Hockey League already this season.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Giant Food Stores and Velaspan tonight will pit the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events. In the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, the four teams, representing each of the AHL’s four Divisions, will participate in 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 will face off for the championship, a six-minute game also played at 3-on-3.
Starting at just $26 each, a limited number of single-event tickets are still available for the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross. To purchase event tickets, please visit phantomshockey.com, call 610-347-TIXX or visit the PPL Center box office.
The All-Star Classic festivities also include the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, to be held at Miller Symphony Hall at 11 a.m. on Monday. The ceremony will feature the induction of Billy Dea, Bryan Helmer, Rob Murray and Doug Yingst as the AHL Hall of Fame Class of 2017 and will also celebrate honorary All-Star Classic captains Daniel Briere and Terry Murray.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross will feature the top young talent in the American Hockey League: since 1995, more than 93 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League, including Jake Allen, Artem Anisimov, Patrice Bergeron, Ben Bishop, Troy Brouwer, Ryan Callahan, Zdeno Chara, Logan Couture, Braden Holtby, Tyler Johnson, Martin Jones, Chris Kunitz, Zach Parise, Tuukka Rask, Pekka Rinne, Bobby Ryan, Cory Schneider, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, P.K. Subban and Mats Zuccarello, as well as former Lehigh Valley Phantoms representatives Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning and Anthony Stolarz.
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, trainers, executives and broadcasters of all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of NHL players last season were AHL graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2015-16, over 7.1 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America, the highest total attendance in league history.