By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., July 29, 2016 — The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) recently announced the league schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 hockey season including 21 home dates for the Great Falls Americans Junior A squad at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
The Americans, who begin their sixth season of junior hockey and their third season of competition in the Frontier Division of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) open their hockey season in front of the home crowd against the Glacier Nationals on Friday, September 16th. The following night (Sept. 17th) they will face the Nationals in Havre, Montana before hosting four straight home contests. All home games begin at 7:30PM (MST) and all games can be seen on the league’s webcast subscription service, Hockey TV.
The NA3HL Frontier Division consists of five other Montana teams including the Billings Bulls, Bozeman Ice Dogs, Helena Bighorns, Glacier Nationals and new league member, the Missoula Jr. Bruins along with two teams from Wyoming (Gillette Wild and the Yellowstone Quake).
The NA3HL will be conducting two prestigious tournaments starting with the NA3HL Showcase in December and the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament at the end of February. The top four teams in the middle of March will face off in two rounds of playoffs to determine who will advance to the national tournament. The NA3HL Silver Cup Championship Tournament at the end of March will crown a national champion.
The Showcase tournament (December 16-18th) will feature each of the 48 NA3HL clubs playing against teams from the other divisions. Coaches and scouts from the NCAA and the ACHA usually attend this tournament taking place this year in Blaine, Minnesota.
The second major event is the Top Prospects Tournament (February 26-28th) being held at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan features the best talented players against each other in an ‘all-star’ setting.
The Silver Cup Championship Tournament holds a five-day tournament to crown a league playoff champion.
Click here for the 2016-17 Americans season schedule and the PDF printable version of the schedule.
Story Courtesy: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): NA3HL releases 2016-17 regular season schedule (July 14, 2016)
Story Courtesy: Great Falls Tribune: Americans are road warriors this year; season opens at home Sept. 16 (July 31, 2016)
