TWO ICEHOGS NAMED TO AHL ALL-STAR TEAM

Rockford, Ill. – The American Hockey League announced on Tuesday that Rockford IceHogs defenseman T.J. Brennan and forward Joakim Nordstrom have been selected to play for the Western Conference AHL All-Star Team at the 2015 AHL All-Star Classic. The AHL All-Star Classic presented by Turning Stone Resort Casino will be held Jan. 25-26 in Utica, N.Y.

Brennan, 25, paces the IceHogs in points (28) and assists (21) while his plus/minus rating (+15) ranks second on the club. The AHL’s reigning Defenseman of the Year earns his second straight All-Star nomination as he was nominated a season ago with the Toronto Marlies.

In his sixth professional campaign, the Willingboro, N.J. native has accumulated 227 career points (83g-144a) with Portland, Rochester, Rockford and Toronto. The veteran d-man has also appeared in 40 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, compiling four goals and seven assists.

The 25 year-old was drafted by the Sabres in the second round (#31 overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Nordstrom, 22, is currently in Chicago where he has recorded two assists in 14 games with the Blackhawks this season. Rockford’s captain has also registered eight goals and five assists in 17 contests with the IceHogs.

The Tyreso, Sweden native is in his second season with the Blackhawks organization after being selected by Chicago in the third round (#90 overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. In all, Nordstrom has racked up 51 career points (25g-19a) in 86 games with the IceHogs and five (1g-4a) in 30 career tilts with the Blackhawks.

A complete roster of players by conference is listed below:

Western Conference
ADK – Joni Ortio, Emile Poirier
CHA – Ryan Murphy
CHI – Ty Rattie
GR – Xavier Ouellet, Teemu Pulkkinen
HAM – Charles Hudon
IA – Matt Dumba
LE – Stefan Elliott
MIL – Magnus Hellberg
OKC – Brad Hunt, Anton Lander
RCH – Phil Varone
RFD – T.J. Brennan, Joakim Nordstom
SA – Bobby Butler, Drew Shore
TEX – Maxime Fortunus, Travis Morin
TOR – Connor Brown
UTI – Jacob Markstrom, Cal O’Reilly, Bobby Sanguinetti

Coaches:
Travis Green, Utica
John Anderson, Chicago

Eastern Conference
ALB – Joe Whitney
BNG – Chris Wideman
BRI – Ryan Pulock
HFD – Chris Bourque
HER – Tim Kennedy
LV – Brandon Manning
MCH – Colin Miller, Brian O’Neill, Nick Shore, Jordan Weal
NOR – Chris Wagner
POR – Alexandre Bolduc
PRO – Alexander Khokhlachev, David Pastrnak
SPR – Anton Forsberg, Austin Madaisky
STJ – Connor Hellebuyck
SYR – Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Nesterov
WBS – Tom Kostopoulos, Derrick Pouliot, Jeff Zatkoff
WOR – Matt Taormina

Coaches:
Mike Stothers, Manchester
Roy Sommer, Worcester