AHCA DIVISION III ALL-AMERICAN NEWS RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College men's hockey forward Chris Johnson (JR, Verona, Wis./Madison Memorial HS) was named to the American Hockey Coaches Association/RBK Hockey Division III Men's All-American team, becoming the 31st player in Augsburg men's hockey history to earn All-American honors, it was announced over the weekend.

The award caps an incredible season for Johnson, who was named to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference squad earlier this month. It was his third All-MIAC honor, earning first-team honors this season after receiving all-conference honorable-mention honors his first two seasons. He was also named to the MIAC All-Rookie Team in his first season. He earned MIAC Player of the Week honors twice this season.

A team captain this year, Johnson finished the 2008-09 season as the MIAC's scoring champion in both overall and conference play. In overall play, Johnson led the league in both points (42) and assists (28), while standing fifth in goals (14). In league games-only, Johnson led the league in points (33) and assists (22), while standing second in goals (11). He finished the 2008-09 season with a consecutive-game point streak of 12 straight games, claiming a goal or assist in 21 of Augsburg's 26 games this season.

Among NCAA Division III players nationally, Johnson finished 13th in points per-game (1.62) and 10th in assists per-game (1.08). In 77 career games at Augsburg, Johnson has 30 goals and 57 assists for 87 points.

The AHCA awards 24 individuals to first and second teams of All-Americans from the East and West regions. All-Americans are selected by men's hockey coaches who are members of the AHCA. The award is sponsored by RBK Hockey, an international leader in hockey equipment.

Augsburg has earned 31 men's hockey All-Americans in program history, and Johnson's honor is the second under current Augsburg men's hockey head coach Chris Brown. Aaron Johnson earned All-American honors in Brown's first season with the Auggies, 2006-07.

Augsburg finished 9-16-1 overall, 8-7-1 in MIAC play in 2008-09. The Auggies closed the season strong, with a 6-1-1 record in their last eight games of the regular season to earn a berth in the five-team MIAC postseason tournament for the second time in the last three years.

Among other MIAC teams, forward David Martinson of Division III national runner-up Gustavus was named to the West All-America first team, along with Hamline defender Chris Berenguer. Johnson was joined on the second team by St. Thomas defender Adam Davis.

The award for Chris Johnson is part of a monumental hockey season for the Johnson family. On Saturday, Johnson's father, Mark Johnson, the women's hockey head coach at the University of Wisconsin, led his Badgers to the NCAA Division I women's hockey national championship in Boston with a 5-0 victory over Mercyhurst (Pa.), the team's third national title in the last four seasons. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association co-Coach of the Year this season, Mark Johnson was also named as one of six finalists for the AHCA's Division I Women's Hockey National Coach of the Year honor, which will be announced in April.

Earlier this year, Mark Johnson, a member of the legendary "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey gold-medal winning team, was named the head coach of the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Chris Johnson's younger brother, Patrick Johnson, completed his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin, collecting three goals and four assists for seven points as the Badgers finished 20-16-4, placing third in the WHCA regular season and in the playoff tournament. He has scored 11 goals in his two seasons at Wisconsin, and the Montreal Canadiens selected him in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Draft.