Schneider Picked as All-Star

Mathieu Schneider’s reward for a determined comeback from hernia and abdominal surgery was his selection Thursday night to the Western Conference team for the NHL All-Star game on Feb. 2 at Sunrise, Fla.

One year after the surgery cut short his season and cost him a probable spot on the U.S. Olympic team, Schneider, 33, has been the Kings’ top player.

Only five defensemen have scored more points than Schneider, who with 10 goals and 22 assists before Thursday night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers was on pace for his most prolific season.

“The game has slowed down for me,” said Schneider, the Kings’ No. 2 scorer behind Ziggy Palffy. “You’ll talk to guys like Ally [Jason Allison] and Ziggy, when they’re on top of their game they feel like they just see everything.

“That’s how I felt at the beginning of last season and the year before as well, but this year everything has felt like it’s come together in terms of shooting the puck and being in the right place at the right time.”

Schneider, whose 51 points two seasons ago were three short of his career high, scored 13 in his first 15 games last season before suffering a hernia and torn abdominal muscle, injuries that sidelined him for 23 games and left him less than perfectly sound the rest of the season.

A summer workout regimen overseen by personal trainer T.R. Goodman, who works with several NHL players, led to his second All-Star game selection. He made the Eastern Conference team in 1996, when he was playing for the New York Islanders.