Last week, The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) announced its 2020-21 First- and Second-Team All-Americans. Among them was Army West Point’s Colin Bilek (Brighton, 2015) after having a career year for the Black Knights.

In 22 games, the junior forward led the team with 18 goals and 25 points and finished among the top scorers in the country. For his efforts, Bilek was recognized by the AHCA as a Second-Team All-American, along with his Army teammate Trevin Kozlowski. 

The 5-foot-11 winger played two seasons of junior varsity hockey for Brighton before making the varsity team as a junior. In 56 career games for the Bulldogs, Bilek scored 20 goals and 38 points and served as captain during his senior season. After graduation, he played one season in the USPHL where he was captain for the Rochester Jr. Americans. He jumped from Tier-III junior hockey in 2015-16 to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) the following fall, where Bilek played two seasons for the Northeast Generals, again serving as captain.

Bilek is the first MI-HS alum to be recognized as an All-American since 2018, when fellow Brighton native Cooper Marody (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 2015) earned Second-Team honors as a junior for the University of Michigan.