The North American Hockey League (NAHL) has announced that the 2014
NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, presented by Easton, will be held from
February 17-18, 2014 at the Troy Sports Center in Troy, Michigan. 100
total players from the NAHL will be spread amongst five teams, who will
play in two games each during the event. The event will feature teams
that represent the four divisions in the NAHL: Central, Midwest, North
and South, along with an NAHL 18U Selects team comprised of some of the
top players currently playing in the NAHL that are 18 years old or
younger.
In a very short period of time, the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament
has become one of the most highly-scouted events of its kind. Last
season, over 170 scouts attended the event, which featured almost every
NHL team and NCAA Division I school. Over a third of the players that
competed in last year’s event ended up with an NCAA Division I
opportunity. Combined with the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament and NAPHL
Championship series, it will make for an exciting week of hockey and
provides a great opportunity for every scout and coach to get a close
look the talent in the three leagues.
While the four NAHL divisional teams will play amongst each other
at the event, the NAHL 18U Selects Team will face a yet to be named
opponent on Monday, February 17th and then will face USA Hockey's
National Team Development Program (NTDP) U17 Team on Tuesday, February
18th. This offers a unique opportunity for the NAHL and the NTDP to
participate in a high-profile event in cooperation with one another. The
NAHL and the NTDP have a rich and productive 12-year history together,
as the NTDP was a full-time member of the NAHL from 1997-2009. The U.S.
National Under-17 Team is coached by Don Granato and is coming off
winning the World U17 Challenge title back in January 4th in Sydney,
Nova Scotia.
Only those NAHL players without an NCAA commitment are eligible to
participate in the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, with the exception of
those who will be playing on the NAHL 18U Selects team. Each of the
teams will consist of a 20-man roster (12 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2
goaltenders).
“The primary objective of the NAHL and the Top Prospects Tournament
is to provide an opportunity for our players to get scouted. It is a
great honor and reward for the players who are selected for this event
and provides the hundreds of scouts in attendance with a great snapshot
of how players have progressed since the start of the season,” said NAHL
Commissioner Mark Frankenfeld. “The approach here is
not like an All-Star Game from the players perspective, they are all
battling to earn NCAA opportunities and get noticed by NHL scouts, so it
really takes the competition at the event to the next level.”
Teams will be ranked from first to last within each division based
on winning percentage based upon standings as of January 20th. The
highest seed in each division will send five players; the 2nd place team
will send four, the 3rd-5th place teams will send three each and the
6th place team will send two. The 7th place team in the South will send
two players to compete on the Central Division team. The head coach of
the team with the best winning percentage in each division as of
January 20th shall serve as the head coach for that division’s Top
Prospects team. The head coach with the second best winning percentage
in each group shall serve as the assistant coach for that division’s
Top Prospects team.
2014 NAHL Top Prospects schedule:
Monday, February 17th: North vs. South, 1pm – Central vs. Midwest, 3:30pm – NAHL 18U Selects vs. TBA, 6pm
Tuesday, February 18th: Central vs. South, 1pm – Midwest vs. North, 3:30pm – NAHL 18U Selects vs. USNTDP 17-Team, 6pm
The Head Coaches of each Top Prospect Team will make final roster
decisions after considering the player nominations submitted by
individual teams. Top Prospects Head Coaches will finalize their rosters
by 5:00pm CST on January 23rd. Top Prospects rosters for all teams will
be formally announced on Tuesday, January 28th on nahl.com.
In conjunction with the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, all North
American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) teams - Midget Major and Midget
Minor will compete in the NAPHL Championship Tournament Series for the
right to be crowned league champions. That event runs from February
14-18, also at the Troy Sports Center in Troy, Michigan.
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) will also play their Top
Prospects Tournament during the week, as all 21 teams will be
represented amongst teams in the four divisions of the NA3HL. Each
divisional Top Prospects team will play in three games from February
17-19 at the Troy Sports Center in Troy, Michigan.
(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)
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