Montana Tech Hockey Players to Play in All Star Tournament

Two members of the Montana Tech hockey team, center and petroleum engineering student Joel Johnson and defenseman and petroleum engineering student Douglas Abbott Jr., were selected to represent Montana Tech and the Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League (MWCHL) at the American Collegiate Hockey Association DII National All Star Tournament in Philadelphia, PA this weekend, April 7th through 9th.

The All Star tournament occurs every other year in Philadelphia and each of the nineteen leagues in Division II sends an All Star team to represent their league at the tournament. Throughout the tournament, league officials and coaches evaluate the players and choose those that will represent the ACHA Division II on the Select team that travels to Europe the following December to play several pro teams and European University All Star teams. Two players have been honored to skate for the Select team previously, Conrad Smith in 2013 and Douglas Abbott Jr. in 2015.

Currently, there are nine teams in the MWCHL: Montana Tech, Boise State University, Brigham Young University, Montana State University, Utah State University, Weber State University, University of Wyoming, Grand Canyon University and Utah Valley University. “It is quite an honor to have two Montana Tech players selected out of the approximately 200 players in the league,” noted Mary North-Abbott, manager of the Montana Tech hockey team.

In 2013, the inaugural season for the MWCHL with five teams, the Orediggers landed two players on the All Star team. In 2015, the league grew to seven teams and Montana Tech had seven players on the team.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Mary North-Abbott at 406-496-4810.