Wednesday's news that he'd been selected for the American Hockey League all-star game put a smile on T.J. Brodie's face.
"I've never been on an all-star team before, even back in the OHL," enthused Brodie, who will be the Heat's lone representative on the Western Conference squad at AHL all-star classic, Jan. 30-31 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
"It'll be something new for me, and hopefully it'll be good. I'm really looking forward to it."
Brodie, a swift-skating defenceman, is tied for third on the Heat with 15 points (one goal, 14 assists) in 33 games to go with a -2 rating and 22 penalty minutes.
It's been quite a rookie season for the 20-year-old Dresden, Ont. native. He was a training camp sensation with the Calgary Flames in September and cracked the NHL parent club's opening-night lineup. Though he only lasted three games with the Flames before being re-assigned to Abbotsford, Brodie established himself as one of the organization's brightest prospects.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing, though. Brodie was a healthy scratch for the Heat's New Year's Eve game with the Texas Stars, and the message from head coach Jim Playfair to the offensively gifted blueliner was that he needed to simplify his game and focus on defence.
Jay Feaster, the Flames' acting general manager, told the Calgary Herald last week he thought Brodie came down to Abbotsford with a "lack of respect" for the quality of play in the AHL.
Brodie didn't dispute Feaster's analysis.
"It's not quite as fast (in the AHL), and I felt like I had more time," he explained. "When you feel you have more time, you try to do too much – or more than you should be doing.
"It's just knowing when to do things and when not to, that's the biggest thing. I'm really concentrating on the defensive side of the game. To be honest with you, that's what I got away from about a month ago."
The all-star nod, then, is an encouraging landmark for Brodie as he continues to develop his game to the point where he's an NHL regular.
"I'm just going to go there and try to enjoy myself," he said. "It'll be good to play with some of the guys around the league."
The complete list of AHL all-stars is as follows.
2011 Western Conference AHL All-Stars
Forwards
Joey Crabb, Toronto
x-David Desharnais, Hamilton
x-Alexandre Giroux, Oklahoma City (“C”)
Linus Klasen, Milwaukee
Spencer Machacek, Chicago
Brett MacLean, San Antonio
x-Travis Morin, Texas
Linus Omark, Oklahoma City
Max Pacioretty, Hamilton
Michal Repik, Rochester
Sergei Shirokov, Manitoba
Ryan Stoa, Lake Erie
Defencemen
T.J. Brodie, Abbotsford
Brian Connelly, Rockford
Maxim Noreau, Houston
Nathan Oystrick, Peoria
x-Paul Postma, Chicago
Brendan Smith, Grand Rapids
x-Garrett Stafford, San Antonio
Clay Wilson, Rochester
Goaltenders
x-Jake Allen, Peoria
Mark Dekanich, Milwaukee
Curtis Sanford, Hamilton
2011 Eastern Conference AHL All-Stars
Forwards
Luke Adam, Portland
Matt Anderson, Albany
Bobby Butler, Binghamton
x-Jonathan Cheechoo, Worcester
x-Andrew Gordon, Hershey
Johan Harju, Norfolk
Dustin Jeffrey, W-B/Scranton
x-Corey Locke, Binghamton
Kyle Palmieri, Syracuse
Rhett Rakhshani, Bridgeport
Jerome Samson, Charlotte
Jeremy Williams, Connecticut
Defencemen
Erik Gustafsson, Adirondack
Steven Kampfer, Providence
John Moore, Springfield
x-Lawrence Nycholat, Hershey
Bryan Rodney, Charlotte
Drew Schiestel, Portland
Viatcheslav Voynov, Manchester
x-Mark Wotton, Bridgeport (“C”)
Goaltenders
Braden Holtby, Hershey
Martin Jones, Manchester
x-Brad Thiessen, W-B/Scranton
x = starters