Regional players receive Atlantic Hockey All-Conference nods

Sacred Heart senior captain Marc Johnstone was tabbed to the All-Atlantic Hockey First Team on Thursday. (Sacred Heart Athletics)

With the conference tournament now underway, Atlantic Hockey announced its All-Conference Teams for the 2020-21 campaign on Thursday, featuring four players with ties to the New York region.

Due to the nature of the 2021 season, in which the conference used a two-pod approach to limit travel and curb the spread of coronavirus, the league chose to do the awards – which typically span across the entire conference – by pod.

The eastern pod consists of AIC, Army, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart. The western pod is comprised of Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, and Robert Morris. Air Force, the geographic outlier, played games between both of the pods.

Each pod was dealt two All-Conference Teams, plus a single All-Rookie Team.

From the eastern pod, Sacred Heart senior forward Marc Johnstone (Cranford, N.J.) was tabbed to the All-Atlantic Hockey First Team.

Johnstone, a Pioneer captain who played for the New Jersey Rockets and Saint Joseph High before two seasons with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, sits second on the team in scoring with 13 points on seven assists and six goals, three of which have come on the power play.

Also in the eastern pod, Holy Cross junior defenseman Matt Slick (Buffalo, N.Y.) was voted onto the All-Atlantic Second Team.

One of two Crusaders captains, Slick played in all 16 games this season, picking up a single goal and assist along the way. That one assist was a big one, however, as it led to the game-winning goal in overtime during an early matchup with Bentley to start the season.

In early December, the Proctor Academy and single-season BCHL product was voted as the league’s Defensive Player of the Week for his standout effort in the back end. He blocked 22 shots on the year, tied for second on the team.

As for the western pod, Rochester Institute of Technology senior defenseman Dan Willett (Bayville, N.Y.) got the All-AHA First Team nod.

A Long Island Gulls and New Jersey Rockets product, before making several stops in the USHL, he was named the AHA’s Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 23 for his efforts in the Tigers sweep of Robert Morris, limiting the top-scoring offense to just four goals.

On the season, Willet owns a team-best of 26 blocked shots, and 12 assists and 14 points.

Also in the west, Mercyhurst sophomore forward Jonathan Bendorf (Yardville, N.J.) was voted to the All-AHA Second Team.

In 21 games, the Hun School alumni, who also spent time in the NAHL and USHL before moving into the Atlantic, led the Lakers with 11 goals on a .268 shooting percentage – amassing 15 points in the process.

While Mercyhurst has already been knocked out of contention after falling to Niagara, and Holy Cross was forced to back out of the AHA tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test that led the program to shut down back on March 5, Sacred Heart and RIT will be back in action for the quarterfinal round this weekend.

Liam Flaherty can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.