By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., September 10, 2020 —The Great Falls Americans Junior A team along with the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) have announced their North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) regular season game schedule for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
The slate for the Americans is highlighted by the two teams that finished above the Americans in the Frontier Division standings last season, the Bozeman Ice Dogs (39-7-0-1) and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (35-11-1-1). Both Bozeman and Sheridan will each meet Great Falls four times this season (2 home/2 away games). The schedule set up by the league also has two Thursday night, one Sunday and Monday night home contests in addition to the Friday and Saturday evening contests.
The league released the Frontier Division’s 43-regular season game schedule on Thursday, September 10, 2020 as well as the other four divisions (Central, East, West, and South) during the week of September 9th. All regular season games, which begin on Friday, October 2nd and will end on Sunday, March 28th, are subject to change due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus that could affect the contests.
Great Falls, entering their tenth season of junior hockey, will have 20 home dates at the Great Falls Ice Plex. The Americans, who enter their seventh season of competition in the Frontier Division of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), open up the hockey season with a pair of road games against the Cobras in Butte, Montana on October 2nd and 3rd. Great Falls will make their home debut on Friday, October 9th when the Helena Bighorns come to the Great Falls Ice Plex. The Americans home games begin at 7:30PM (MST) except for their lone Sunday contest (October 25th) that will start at 5:00PM (MST). All home and away games can be seen on the league’s webcast subscription service, HockeyTV.
**There will be a limited seating capacity of 250 people total inside the Great Falls Ice Plex for the upcoming 2020-21 season due to COVID-19.
The Americans will conduct their first practice this season on Monday, September 14th under the direction of Head Coach/General Manager, Greg Sears, who enters his third season at the helm of the Great Falls junior hockey squad.
In addition to the four other Montana-based NA3HL squads (Bozeman Ice Dogs, Helena Bighorns, Missoula Jr. Bruins and the Butte Cobras), Wyoming also has three squads competing including the Yellowstone Quake (Cody, WY), Gillette (WY) Wild and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks this season.
The NA3HL also announced three events during the 2020-21 season including the annual NA3HL (league-wide) Showcase (CANCELLED THIS YEAR DUE TO COVID-19) taking place from December 20-22, 2020 in Blaine, Minnesota that feature all 35 teams. In April 2021, the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament will be in St. Peters, Missouri this season (April 18-10) in conjunction with the 2021 NA3HL Fraser Cup Championship Tournament that crowns the NA3HL’s playoff champion (April 15-19)) in St. Peters, Missouri.
In December’s Showcase tournament in Blaine, Minnesota (CANCELLED), each of the 31 league members in 15 states will play against other division teams featuring three games in three days. The contests will count in the overall standings and feature coaches and scouts from the NCAA, junior college ranks and the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).
At the end of the 2020-21 season in April, the second major event is the Top Prospects Tournament hosted for the first time this season at the St. Peters Rex Plex in St. Peters, Missouri that will highlight the NA3HL’s best players in an ‘all-star’ setting.
The 2021 NA3HL playoffs begin after the regular season concludes in March starting with the Frontier Divisional Playoffs and capped off by the 2021 NA3HL Fraser Cup Championship Tournament that will crown a national champion. The five-day round-robin tournament will take place in St. Peters, Missouri from April 15-19, 2021.
View the NA3HL’s press releases for each of the league’s five divisions below.
| Central Division | East Division | Frontier Division | South Division | West Division |
The 2020-21 Americans season schedule is below.
| Day/Date | Game | Time | Location |
| OCTOBER | |||
| Fri. Oct. 2 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Sat. Oct. 3 | @ Butte Cobras (played in Great Falls) | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Oct. 9 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Oct. 10 | @ Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Haynes Pavilion, Bozeman, MT |
| Fri. Oct. 16 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:05PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Sat. Oct. 17 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:05PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Sun. Oct. 25 | vs. Missoula Jr. Bruins | 5:00PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| NOVEMBER | |||
| Sat. Nov. 7 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Nov. 13 | @ Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Riley Arena, Cody, WY |
| Sat. Nov. 14 | @ Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Riley Arena, Cody, WY |
| Fri. Nov. 20 | @ Missoula Jr. Bruins (played in Helena, MT) | 11:30AM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Sat. Nov. 21 | vs. Missoula Jr. Bruins | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Nov. 27 | vs. Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Nov. 28 | vs. Missoula Jr. Bruins | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| DECEMBER | |||
| Fri. Dec. 4 | @ Helena Bighorns | 12:00PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Sat. Dec. 5 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Fri. Dec. 11 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Dec. 18 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:00PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Sat. Dec. 19 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:00PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Sun. Dec. 20 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| (CANCELLED) | @ TBA | 0:00PM (MST) | |
| Mon. Dec. 21 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| (CANCELLED) | @ TBA | 0:00PM (MST) | |
| Tues. Dec. 22 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| (CANCELLED) | vs. TBA | 00:00AM (MST) | |
| Thurs. Dec. 31 | vs. Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| JANUARY | |||
| Fri. Jan. 1 | vs. Missoula Jr. Bruins | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Jan. 2 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Mon. Jan. 4 | vs. Missoula Jr. Bruins | 11:30AM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Jan. 8 |
vs. Sheridan Hawks |
7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Jan. 9 | vs. Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Jan. 15 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Sat. Jan. 16 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Sat. Jan. 23 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:05PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Fri. Jan. 29 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Jan. 30 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| FEBRUARY | |||
| Sat. Feb. 13 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:05PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Fri. Feb. 19 | vs. Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Feb. 20 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Feb. 27 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| MARCH | |||
| Fri. Mar. 5 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Sat. Mar. 6 | @ Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Haynes Pavilion, Bozeman, MT |
| Sat. Mar. 13 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| APRIL | |||
| Sun. Apr. 18 | NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament | St. Peters Rex Plex, St. Peters, MO | |
| Frontier Division vs. TBA | 0:00AM (MST) | Frontier Roster l TBA Roster | |
| Frontier Division vs. TBA | 0:00PM (MST) | Frontier Roster l TBA Roster | |
| Mon. Apr. 19 | NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament | St. Peters Rec Plex, St. Peters, MO | |
| Frontier Division vs. TBA | 0:00AM (MST) | Frontier Roster l TBA Roster | |
| End of Regular Season | |||
Click here for the Printable (PDF) Version of this Press Release.
Click here to view the entire 2020-21 team-by-team schedule.
