Another Port Moody hockey player is getting a chance to win an NCAA championship.
Kent Johnson’s University of Michigan Wolverines will play defending champion Minnesota Duluth in the Midwest regional semifinal, to be played Friday in Fargo, N.D. The winner advances to Saturday’s regional final for a spot in the Frozen Four championship tournament in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 8 to 10.
Michigan earned an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament after losing in overtime to the University of Minnesota in the semifinals of Big Ten conference championship.
Johnson, a freshman, finished the season with 27 points in 26 games. He was also one of three Wolverines to make the first round of fan voting for the Hobey Baker award that annual to the top player in U.S. college hockey.
Johnson joined Michigan after two seasons with the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BC Hockey League. Last year, he led the league in scoring with 41 goals and 101 points. That was 30 points than Christophe Tellier, of the Surrey Eagles, who finished second.
Johnson is projected to be a first-round pick in this summer’s NHL entry draft with some prognosticators projecting him to be selected as high as third overall.
Last week, Port Moody's Jenna Buglioni made it to the semifinal of the women's Frozen Four hockey championship, where her Ohio State Buckeyes were defeated 4-2 by the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the defending champions.
Johnson and Buglioni played atom hockey together in the Port Moody Amateur Hockey Association.
