Schneider leads PlanetUSA to Skills victory

2009skills.jpgWORCESTER, Mass. … The PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars opened the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications with an 18-12 victory over their Canadian counterparts in the 2009 AHL All-Star Skills Competition at the DCU Center on Sunday evening.

Event scorecard

Manitoba Moose goaltender Cory Schneider, a Massachusetts native and a Boston College product, set an AHL record with 18 stops on 19 shots to earn the Reebok Top Goaltender award. Schneider, a first-round draft choice by the Vancouver Canucks in 2004, hit the All-Star break with a record of 16-2-0 for the Moose, leading the league with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage.

Canadian forward Mike Santorelli of the Milwaukee Admirals was a perfect 4-for-4 in the Charter Communications Accuracy Shooting event, becoming just the third AHL player ever to accomplish that feat. PlanetUSA All-Star Jared Ross of the Philadelphia Phantoms won the Reebok Fastest Skater event with a time of 14.187 seconds.

Defenseman Derek Joslin of the hometown Worcester Sharks took the Reebok Hardest Shot event with a shot registering 98.6 miles per hour, but lost to Sharks teammate Ryan Vesce in the individual Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay.

Schneider combined with Grand Rapids’ Daniel Larsson (13 saves) and Lowell’s Jeff Frazee (11 saves) to backstop PlanetUSA to its fifth Skills Competition win in the last six years.

The PlanetUSA squad will go for the sweep when the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Charter Communications continues on Monday night with the annual AHL All-Star Game. Coverage from Worcester begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on TSN in Canada, a series of regional networks in the United States and on in the internet at AHL Live (www.ahllive.com). The game can also be heard live on the NHL Home Ice channel on Sirius XM Radio and XM Canada.