The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) has announced the release of the 2013-14 regular-season schedule. Entering its fourth full season, the NA3HL is one of nine USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior leagues and serves as one of the top training grounds in the country by providing the best coaching, exposure and developmental vehicles available for student-athletes in its classification.
This past season, the NA3HL’s North Iowa Bulls were crowned as the USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Champions and a record number of players from the NA3HL were drafted and tendered in the NAHL and made commitments to the NCAA and ACHA.
Each of the 18 teams in the league’s three divisions – the Central, East and West – will play 48 regular season games. The regular season will commence on September 7, 2013 and conclude on March 9, 2014.
The NA3HL will hold a league-wide Showcase Tournament in which all 18 teams will be in one location to play four regular season games. The 2013 NA3HL Showcase will be held from November 22-25 at Canlan Ice Sports in Romeoville, Illinois (home to the NA3HL’s Chicago Jr. Bulldogs). A Showcase schedule will be released at a later date.
The 2014 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament will be held on a different date this season than years past. It will be held in cooperation with the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in Troy, Michigan from February 16-18, 2014. The event will feature some of the best prospects from the NA3HL playing in an ‘all-star’ type of event.
The 2014 NA3HL Silver Cup Championship Tournament, which crowns the NA3HL’s playoff champion, will be held from March 28-31, 2014 at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois.
2013-14 NA3HL Divisional breakdown:
Central Division (6 teams): Battle Creek Revolution, Chicago Junior Bulldogs, Cincinnati Swords, Peoria Mustangs, St. Louis Jr. Blues, Wisconsin Whalers.
East Division (6 teams): Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks, Flint Jr. Generals, Metro Jets, Michigan Mountain Cats, Pittsburgh Vengeance, Toledo Cherokee.
West Division (6 teams): Alexandria Blizzard, Breezy Point North Stars, Granite City Lumberjacks, Minnesota Flying Aces, North Iowa Bulls, Twin City Steel.
