Jordan Subban was surprised.

The Utica Comets defenseman was thrilled, too.

The 21-year-old’s reaction Thursday stems from finding out he’ll be representing the Comets, the North Division and the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League’s All-Star Classic on Jan. 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“I was like, ‘What?’ when I found out. I was excited,” said Subban, who was told of his selection not long before teams were released Thursday afternoon. “My family called me. It is pretty cool.”

He said he also got countless text messages and tweets sent to his personal Twitter account – all congratulating him on the accomplishment.

“I’m excited to play,” said Subban, who is the younger brother of National Hockey League defenseman P.K. Subban and Providence goaltender Malcolm Subban. P.K. Subban was named an AHL All-Star during his lone season in the league in 2009-10. He was also selected to the NHL All-Star game this season through a fan vote.

It will be Jordan Subban’s first all-star appearance at any level. Jordan Subban, who is in his second professional season, said there wasn’t an All-Star game when he played junior hockey from 2011 to 2015 for the Belleville Bulls in the Ontario Hockey League.

He said he’s enjoyed watching the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association’s all-star games, making him excited to participate.

“I hope to have a good time,” he said of the AHL’s festivities.

The 5-foot-9, 178-pound Subban earned the AHL All-Star spot after leading the Comets’ defensemen in points and being among the AHL leaders in a few categories this season. The righthanded Subban, who is a member of the Comets’ power-play unit, has totaled eight goals and 12 assists in 29 games this season. Those totals place Subban, who also has a quick shot, second overall in points on the Comets (10-15-5-1 overall).

Among AHL defensemen, the speedy Subban is tied for 10th in points. His eight goals are fifth-most among defensemen. His six power-play goals are tied for most among blueliners.

Subban is one of three defensemen on the North Division squad, joining Mark Barberio (St. John’s) and Matt Taormina (Syracuse). Rosters were determined by committees of AHL coaches. Each of the 30 teams is represented by at least one all-star.

Similar to last season, the AHL’s All-Stars are separated into four teams -- one representing each of the four divisions -- for the All-Star Challenge on Monday, Jan. 30. The teams – which consist of 10 skaters and two goaltenders -- will play a round-robin tournament with six games of 10 minutes each. All games will be played 3-on-3, similar to overtime during the league’s regular-season format. The two teams with the best records at the end of the tournament will play for the championship.

“I think it will be fun,” said Jordan Subban, who heard a little bit about the All-Star event last season in Syracuse through former roommate Hunter Shinkaruk, who was the Comets’ representative.

As part of the All-Star festivities, there will also be a Skills Competition on Sunday, Jan. 29, with players from the Eastern and Western conferences taking part in seven skills events.

Subban said he doesn’t have a preference on a skills event he wants to participate in. He said he’ll do whatever event he’s told to do.

Subban is the sixth player to represent the Comets during the AHL All-Star festivities. Besides Shinkaruk last season, Cal O’Reilly, Bobby Sanguinetti, Jacob Markstrom and coach Travis Green each represented the Comets at the 2015 All-Star festivities in Utica.

This season, teams will be coached by Clark Donatelli (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Atlantic Division), Benoit Groulx (Syracuse/North), Todd Nelson (Grand Rapids/Central) and Mike Stothers (Ontario). The coaches earned the honor because their teams each had the best record in their respective divisions as of Dec. 31.

There's one other familiar face to Comets fans selected to the All-Star team. Former Comets player Nicklas Jensen, who was traded to the New York Rangers organization on Jan. 8, 2016, was named to the Atlantic All-Star squad.