FORMER WBS FORWARD JAKE GUENTZEL NAMED TO NHL ALL-STAR GAME

Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has been selected to represent the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL All-Star Game for the first time, it was announced by the NHL this afternoon. Guentzel will represent the Metropolitan Division.

The 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend will be held January 24-25 at the Enterprise Center at St. Louis.

The 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be a 3-on-3 tournament between the four NHL divisions, and will be held on Saturday, January 25 at 8:00 PM ET. One night prior, on Friday, January 24, will be the New Amsterdam Vodka All-Star Skills event at 8:00 PM ET.

Guentzel played parts of two seasons (2015-16, 2016-17) with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording 48 points (23+25) in 44 regular season games.  Guentzel led the team with nine assists and 14 points during the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs, and posted 42 points (21+21) in just 33 games during the 20016-17 campaign.  His 21 goals that season ranked second on the team, despite not appearing in a game with the AHL squad after January 14.

Guentzel, who is now the 37^th player in team history to be selected to an NHL All-Star Game, is Pittsburgh’s team leader in goals (19), points (40) and game-winning goals (4). His 19 goals are tied for 12^th while his four game-winners rank ninth (tied) in the NHL, respectively. Guentzel has done the bulk of his damage at even strength, where he’s scored 13 of his 19 goals (68.4%) and tallied 30 of his 40 points (75%).

In a season where Pittsburgh has been plagued by 152 man-games lost due to injury (including stretches of 10+ games without key players such as captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin, Patric Hornqvist and Justin Schultz), Guentzel has been the constant. The 25-year old has appeared in all 38 games the Penguins have played, helping Pittsburgh to the fifth-best record in the NHL at 23-11-4 (50 points). He has dressed in 202 consecutive regular-season games.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is a New Year’s Eve matinée, when they take on the Springfield Thunderbirds. Puck drop between the Penguins and T-Birds is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Individual tickets to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton home games are on sale now and can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza box office, Ticketmaster.com, or by contacting the Penguins offices at (570) 208-7367. Season ticket packages for the Penguins’ 2019-20 regular season, including 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans, are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.

Fans can also keep up with the Penguins through the AHL’s brand new high definition streaming service, AHLTV. Subscriptions for AHLTV are available now. Fans can visit theahl.com/AHLTV now to register for a free AHLTV account and purchase 2019-20 subscriptions.