2019 AHCA DIVISIONS II/III ALL-AMERICA RELEASE
2019 ALL-USCHO DIVISION III TEAM RELEASE

(NOTE: Updated with All-USCHO Team selections)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University men's hockey players Alex Rodriguez (SR, Miami, Fla./Shattuck-St. Mary's (Minn.) HS) and John O'Connor (JR, Moorhead, Minn./Moorhead HS) were named to the American Hockey Coaches Association/CCM Hockey Divisions II-III Men's Hockey All-America Team this weekend, Rodriguez as a first-team forward and O'Connor as a second-team defender from the West Region.

Both were also named to the All-USCHO Division III Team by the USCHO.com website, Rodriguez as a second-team forward and O'Connor as a third-team defender. Twenty-four players are named to the All-USCHO teams -- three teams of six players each (three forwards, two defenders and a goalie) and one team of all rookies (three forwards, two defenders and a goalie).

The duo bring the total of Augsburg men's hockey players awarded AHCA All-American honors to 38 in program history, including nine under 13th-year head coach Chris Brown. It's the eighth time that Augsburg has had two or more All-Americans named in the same season. Both Rodriguez and O'Connor earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors this season, both for the first time in their careers. O'Connor was an All-MIAC Honorable Mention selection last season.

Rodriguez became one of the best scorers in the country this season. He opened the 2018-19 season with back-to-back hat tricks and never looked back, finishing as the MIAC's scoring champion with 21 goals and 40 points, both league bests, while finishing tied for fourth in assists with 19. He recorded five power-play goals and has four game-winning goals. In his 26 games this season, he had a goal or assist in 21 games, including 12 multi-point games, five multi-goal games and three hat tricks. He finished the season with a nine-game point streak (eight goals, seven assists, 15 points).

Among Division III players nationally, his 21 goals were tied for fifth-most, with his 0.81 goals per-game average fifth-best. His 1.54 points per-game average was tied for ninth-best nationally, with his 40 points tied for ninth-most.

In two seasons at Augsburg (54 games) after spending his first two campaigns at Division I Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.), he finished with 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points, with seven power-play goals. In 100 overall collegiate games in four seasons, he finished with 32 goals and 36 assists for 68 points.

O'Connor contributed more to his team's scoring than any other defender in the MIAC this season, leading the conference's defenders with 17 points and 15 assists, while adding two goals, including a power-play marker. His 15 assists were tied for 10th-best among all MIAC players in overall statistics. 

O'Connor was a key part of a strong Augsburg power-play unit, with its 26.6-percent (29-of-109) conversion rate tops among MIAC teams and fifth-best nationally. His eight power-play points (one goal, seven assists) were tied for 10th-most among MIAC players and tops among all league defenders.

He had a goal or assist in 12 of his 27 games this season, with four multi-assist games. In 62 games in his three Auggie seasons, O'Connor now has five goals and 23 assists for 28 points.

In 2018-19, Augsburg claimed the MIAC regular-season title for the second time in the last four years and 10th time in school history, while claiming its fourth straight MIAC playoff title -- a feat unprecedented in MIAC men's hockey history -- and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament for the fourth year in a row. Augsburg finished 21-4-3 overall, 13-1-2 in MIAC play this season, with its 21 overall wins the most since the 1997-98 season (21-8-4) and its 13 conference wins the most since 1982-83 (13-3-0).

The AHCA/CCM Hockey All-America Hockey Teams are sponsored by CCM Hockey and chosen by members of the AHCA. A total of 30 players were chosen -- three teams from the East Region and two teams from the West Region. CCM is the legendary hockey brand dedicated to the endless pursuit of performance by delivering game-changing, head-to-toe innovative hockey equipment to players worldwide.

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AUGSBURG MEN'S HOCKEY ALL-AMERICANS
1971 -- Corky Hall
1971 -- Dan Hall
1974 -- Bill Ross 
1975 -- Mike Sack 
1976 -- John Bergherr 
1976 -- Scott Smith 
1977 -- Gary Hughes 
1978 -- Gary Hughes 
1978 -- Steve Nelson 
1978 -- Mike Colehour 
1979 -- Dick Bain 
1979 -- Brian Gauger 
1980 -- Brian Gauger 
1981 -- Mike Burkhardt 
1981 -- Brian DeClerq 
1981 -- Terry Brown 
1982 -- Terry Brown 
1982 -- Kevin Gordon 
1982 -- Bob Schwartz 
1985 -- Mike Berry 
1987 -- Dallas Miller 
1988 -- Dallas Miller 
1994 -- C.J. Beaurline 
1995 -- Peter Rutili 
1996 -- Mike LeDuc 
1998 -- Todd Cary 
1998 -- Ryan McIntosh 
2003 -- Jaro Cesky 
2006 -- Aaron Johnson 
2007 -- Aaron Johnson 
2009 -- Chris Johnson 
2010 -- Chris Johnson
2011 -- Joel Sauer
2016 -- Jordyn Kaufer
2017 -- Rory Vesel
2017 -- Nate Flynn
2019 -- Alex Rodriguez
2019 -- John O'Connor

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(NOTE: This story includes information taken from Augsburg's 2019 All-MIAC men's hockey release.)