PORTLAND – The Portland Pirates are getting a defenseman back from the Phoenix Coyotes as Chris Summers was assigned to the club on Thursday.

Summers was recalled by the Coyotes back on Feb. 5 and has appeared in five games with the Pirates’ NHL parent club.

It was the Ann Arbor native’s second recall to Phoenix this season since the end of the NHL labor work stoppage.

The 6-foot-2, 209-pound defenseman has played 41 games for Portland this season, recording two goals, eight assists for 10 points. He was a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the AHL’s All-Star Classic held last month in Providence, Rhode Island where he won the Fastest Skater competition setting a new AHL record.

The Pirates return to the ice this weekend for a pair of games as they at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Saturday against the Worcester Sharks before traveling to Providence, RI for a crucial divisional game against the Bruins. Both teams are currently tied for first place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division with 66 points, although the Pirates currently hold the tiebreaker for non-shootout wins.