Thursday, July 26, 2012

NAHL adds HPHL to NAHL Showcase line-up

Press Release

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is pleased to announce that all six teams from the High Performance Hockey League’s (HPHL) 18U Division have been invited to and will compete in the 10th annual Combat Hockey/NAHL Showcase Tournament, held September 12-16, 2012, at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota.

The six teams from the HPHL will join 24 teams from the North American Hockey League (NAHL), 36 teams from the North American Prospects Hockey League (PHL) and 8 teams from the Upper Midwest High School Elite League (UMHSEL) complete the five-day, 74-team showcase event. Each HPHL 18U team will play five games during the NAHL Showcase.

“We believe the addition of the teams from the High Performance Hockey League will just add yet another competitive element to an already tremendous Showcase line-up,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld. “With four different leagues playing under one roof, we believe that the partnership will be nothing but a positive for the thousands of players, scouts and fans that will be in attendance.”

The annual NAHL Showcase is the most well-attended, largest and heavily scouted hockey festivals of its kind in all of North America, and the addition of the HPHL further enhances the event’s reach and scope in the hockey landscape.

“The NAHL puts on one of the premier hockey events of the season with hundreds of scouts attending from across North America. We feel this opportunity ties into our mission and see the event as a jump start to our season,” said HPHL Director Gino Cavallini. “There is no doubt the exposure the event promotes is invaluable and clearly a must place to be. We are thrilled to be able to offer players in the HPHL this sort of showcase.”

Traditionally, the NAHL Showcase Tournament attracts over 9,000 people in overall attendance, including more than 250 professional, college and junior scouts. For more information on the Combat Hockey/NAHL Showcase, visit www.nahlshowcase.com

About the HPHL
The HPHL is a collaboration of six high-profile AAA hockey organizations that formed a Tier I amateur hockey league during the 2011-12 season that competes with both a Boys and Girls division. The member clubs are: Chicago Mission, Chicago Young Americans, Detroit Compuware, Detroit Honey Baked, Detroit Little Caesars and Team Illinois. The League was created to bring together organizations of like mindedness, notably a philosophical commitment to USA Hockey’s American Development Model (ADM) and its Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) recommendations which includes age-specific development of young athletes. The clubs are connected by history, purpose, and proximity, and bound by a mutual interest in creating a highly competitive training and developmental environment. In 2011-12, 13 HPHL teams competed in the USA Hockey National Championships at all three divisions, including Peewee Major – Chicago Mission and Detroit Compuware, Midget Minor – Chicago Mission and Detroit Honey Baked, Midget Major – Detroit Little Caesars. Nine players with HPHL ties were selected in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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