The American Hockey League’s 2024 All-Star Classic is scheduled Feb. 4-5 in San Jose. The Gulls will be represented by rookie defenseman Olen Zellweger, who ranks in a tie for second in scoring among the 32-team league’s first-year blue-liners with 25 points on eight goals and 17 assists in 34 game appearances.
The 20-year-old Calgary native has been a key contributor for the Gulls, ranking second overall in team scoring for the NHL Anaheim Ducks’ top developmental affiliate. He ranks third on the San Diego team with his 17 assists and is in a tie for fourth with his eight goals.
The second-round pick (34th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft is clearly producing, and developing his game in just his first season in the AHL. He earned the No. 1 star in Saturday’s 4-3 win against the host Abbotsford Canucks with two goals and one assist in his first professional multi-point game to help Gulls extend their points streak to four games (3-0-1).
Zellweger scored the game’s jump goal and iced the game with the game-winning goal late in the third period.
“(I’m) just trying to play my game,” Zellweger said. “I think as a team, we played really hard. We had certain things that we wanted to execute that we talked about, so, I think those got done pretty well and we stuck around there and got one late.
“I think we have a belief that we’re not out of any game. We were leading for the majority of that whole game and, to be tied up, we’re fine in that position. And then that last-minute play there, I called (Gulls forward Brayden Tracey) that I was behind him, and he made a great play to let it kind of go through his legs there, and I had a ton of time there to walk in.”
The Gulls youngster, who received the Canadian Hockey League’s Defenseman of the Year award in 2022-23, co-leads AHL blue-liners in goals and power play goals.
Thanks in part to Zellweger’s ongoing development, the Gulls (12-17-6) have bounced back under first-year coach Matt McIlvane with a 10-7-3 spurt since overcoming an early season 13-game (0-10-3) winless streak.
“I think just as a team we’re playing more mature,” Zellweger said. “Everyone is maybe building a little more chemistry together. So, all those things (are) starting to click … (We) can’t worry about what happened in the past.”
Stars in their eyes
The upcoming AHL All-Star Classic marks only the second time the mid-season event has been held in California after the Ontario Reign hosted it in 2020.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds will host the 2025 game, marking the third time the event, which showcases the league’s top young NHL-bound talent, will be held in the Golden State. The AHL has been in operation since 1936.
The Firebirds turned in an extraordinary first season in the league by reaching the Calder Cup Finals, placing second to the Hershey Bears in a stunning Game 7 overtime loss. Coachella Valley went the distance in four of its five playoff series to finish 15-11 in postseason play.
In the meantime, the Gulls would like to showcase their team prior to the All-Star Classic. In a bid to move up the Pacific Division standings into playoff position, the Gulls claimed three out of four possible points from the Iowa Wild in a two-game series Jan. 12-13 at Pechanga Arena.
The Gulls claimed a 3-2 shootout win over the Wild in the series opener to pocket two valuable standings points before picking up one point in a 2-1 overtime loss the next night. Tracey notched the shootout winner.
The San Diegans’ points streak started with a 4-2 win over visiting Coachella Valley on Jan. 10, their first win against last season’s Calder Cup finalists.
Eight teams in the Pacific Division continue to possess winning records but only seven will secure Calder Cup playoff berths. The Gulls finished last weekend’s two game set in Abbotsford 11 points off the playoff cut. They obviously still face a challenge to overcome.
The AHL All-Star Classic is comprised of two separate events — a skills competition between the Western Conference All-Stars and Eastern Conference all-stars on Feb. 4 and a four-team divisional round-robin championship mini-game tournament on Feb. 5.
Teams competing in the three-on- three mini-game All-Star Challenge include the Pacific Division All-Stars, Central Division All-Stars, North Division All-Stars and Atlantic Division All-Stars.
The Pacific Division All-Stars are defending champions
