By Kevin Scott
2022-23 Schedule: Full Season (Printable PDF) l Home Schedule (Printable PDF)
GREAT FALLS, Mont., July 6, 2022 — The Great Falls Americans Junior A team along with the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) have released their North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) regular season game schedule for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
The NA3HL, which is entering their 13th season, serves as the only certified USA Hockey Tier III junior league that consists of five divisions spread across 16 states with 34 teams playing 47 regular season contests from September 4, 2022, until March 5, 2023.
The schedule for the Americans (24-22-3-2 overall record during the 2021-22 season), who came up short in the 2022 NA3HL Frontier Division Semi-Finals to the Helena Bighorns, the eventual division champions, is highlighted by rematches of the top two teams in the Frontier Division when the season concluded last season. The Helena (MT) Bighorns won the regular season and the division title with an overall record of 48-4-3-0 will bring back a core of the players from the 2021-22 season. Former Great Falls Americans Associate Coach Ethan Hayes returns for another season with Frontier Division runner-up, the Gillette (WY) Wild, who won 44 of their 54 contests (44-6-4-0). Both Helena and Gillette competed and represented the Frontier Division at the 2022 NA3HL Fraser Cup National Tournament last March in St. Peters, Missouri.
The top two teams in the Frontier Division during the 2021-22 (#1 Helena Bighorns and #2 Gillette Wild) will meet the Great Falls Americans multiple times on the ice. Great Falls and Helena will meet in the second week (September 16) of the regular season in Great Falls followed with their second head-to-head meeting (Week 4) on September 30th and an away date with the Bighorns on November 23. Great Falls will face the Bighorns nine times in the regular season. Also, the Gillette Wild and Great Falls Americans will get their first rematch of the 2022 NA3HL Frontier Divisional Semi-Finals in which Great Falls took the best-of-three series, 2-1, in Week 7 with the Americans hosting the Wild on October 21-22. The Americans and Wild will tangle on the ice six times. Most (if not all) of the Americans contests this season are expected to be played on Friday and Saturday nights except for the 2022 NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota on December 18-20 (Sunday-Tuesday) and the Top Prospects Tournament on Monday and Tuesday, February 6-7, 2023, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The league released the Frontier Division’s 47-regular season game schedule in addition to the other four divisions (Central, East, West, and South) on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. All regular season games, which begin on Sunday, September 4 and will end on Sunday, March 5, 2023, are subject to change. All teams will also play three regular season games (neutral site) at the league-wide 2022 NA3HL Showcase taking place on December 18-20, 2022, at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. Opponents will be chosen closer to the tournament (see press release).
“We are excited for another great season of NA3HL hockey and proud to be the only certified USA Hockey Tier III junior hockey league,” said NA3HL Commissioner Blake MacNicol. “The NA3HL has experienced record-breaking advancement as more and more players are getting called up, playing, affiliated, and practicing on a regular basis with NAHL (North American Hockey League) teams. We have seen so much interaction with the two leagues that it has built momentum to lead into what took place during the NAHL draft. We are also continuing to ensure that the competition and league-wide events remain at the highest level, while also maintaining a focus on educating our players about NCAA compliance and the importance of education.”
Great Falls is entering their twelfth season of junior hockey (2011-12 – Present) and will have 22 home dates at the Great Falls Ice Plex as they begin their ninth season of competition in the Frontier Division of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The Americans will begin their first three weeks of the season at home where they will face the Helena Bighorns and Yellowstone Quake each twice and the Butte Cobras once. All home games will begin at 7:30PM (MST). All home and away games can be seen on the league’s webcast subscription service, HockeyTV.
The Americans will report this season on Sunday, August 28 under the direction of Head Coach/General Manager, Greg Sears, who enters his fifth season at the helm of the Great Falls junior hockey squad.
“We are excited about the schedule and the upcoming season,” said Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears. “We hope to have players report at the end of August and look forward to hosting Butte in the season opener on September 10th.”
In addition to the three other Montana-based NA3HL squads (Bozeman Ice Dogs, Helena Bighorns, and the Butte Cobras), Wyoming also has three squads competing including the Yellowstone Quake (Cody, WY), Gillette (WY) Wild and the Sheridan (WY) Hawks and one in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Badlands Sabres.
The NA3HL also announced three events during the 2022-23 season including the annual NA3HL (league-wide) Showcase taking place from December 18-20, 2022, in Blaine, Minnesota that feature all 34 teams. In February 2023, the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament will be held on February 6-7th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The season concludes with the 2023 NA3HL Fraser Cup Championship Tournament that crowns the NA3HL’s playoff champion (March 23-26) in St. Louis, Missouri.
In December’s Showcase tournament (December 18-20) in Blaine, Minnesota each of the 34 league members in 16 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).
The second major event of the season is the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament in Cranberry Township (near Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, which will coincide with the 2023 North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) Top Prospects Tournament on February 6-7, 2023, that will highlight the NA3HL’s best players in an ‘all-star’ setting.
Finally, the NA3HL will finish off their postseason with a national tournament in late March with the 2023 NA3HL Fraser Cup Tournament held on March 23-26, 2023, in St. Louis, Missouri that will crown a national champion. Prior to the national tournament, the Divisional playoffs will decide which team(s) represents each division at the five-day round-robin tournament.
Click here to view the NA3HL’s press release for more information and the NA3HL Divisional breakdown for each of the league’s five divisions below.
The 2022-23 Americans season schedule is below.
| Day/Date | Game | Time | Location |
| SEPTEMBER 2022 | |||
| Sat. Sept. 10 | vs. Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Sept. 16 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Sept. 23 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Sept. 24 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Sept. 30 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| OCTOBER 2022 | |||
| Sat. Oct. 1 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Fri. Oct. 7 | vs. Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Oct. 8 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Fri. Oct. 14 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Oct. 15 | vs. Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Oct. 21 | vs. Gillette Wild | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Oct. 22 | vs. Gillette Wild | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Oct. 28 | vs. Badlands Sabres | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Oct. 29 | vs. Badlands Sabres | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| NOVEMBER 2022 | |||
| Fri. Nov. 11 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Sat. Nov. 12 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Fri. Nov. 18 | vs. Gillette Wild | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Nov. 19 | vs. Gillette Wild | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Wed. Nov. 23 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Fri. Nov. 25 | vs. Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Nov. 26 | vs. Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| DECEMBER 2022 | |||
| Fri. Dec. 2 | @ Badlands Sabres | 7:05PM | Roosevelt Park Ice Arena, Rapid City, SD |
| Sat. Dec. 3 | @ Badlands Sabres | 7:05PM | Roosevelt Park Ice Arena, Rapid City, SD |
| Fri. Dec. 9 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Sat. Dec. 10 | @ Sheridan Hawks | 7:30PM | Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, Sheridan, WY |
| Sun. Dec. 18 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| @ Wausau (WI) Cyclones | 5:45PM (MST) | ||
| Mon. Dec. 19 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| vs. New Ulm (MN) Steel | 2:15PM (MST) | ||
| Tues. Dec. 20 | NA3HL Showcase | NSC Super Rink, Blaine, MN | |
| @ El Paso (TX) Rhinos | 11:00AM (MST) | ||
| Fri. Dec. 30 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Dec. 31 | vs. Helena Bighorns | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| JANUARY 2023 | |||
| Fri. Jan. 6 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Fri. Jan. 13 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Sat. Jan. 14 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Jan. 20 | @ Butte Cobras | 7:30PM | Butte Community Ice Center, Butte, MT |
| Sat. Jan. 21 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Fri. Jan. 27 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| Sat. Jan. 28 | @ Helena Bighorns | 7:05PM | Helena Ice Arena, Helena, MT |
| FEBRUARY 2023 | |||
| Fri. Feb. 3 | @ Badlands Sabres | 7:05PM | Roosevelt Park Ice Arena, Rapid City, SD |
| Sat. Feb. 4 | @ Badlands Sabres | 7:05PM | Roosevelt Park Ice Arena, Rapid City, SD |
| Mon. Feb. 6 | NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament | UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Central Division vs. Frontier Division | 1:00PM (MST) | Central Roster l Frontier Roster | |
| Tues. Feb. 7 | NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament | UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Frontier Division vs. South Division | 6:00AM (MST) | South Roster l Frontier Roster | |
| Fri. Feb. 10 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:05PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Sat. Feb. 11 | @ Gillette Wild | 7:05PM | Spirit Hall Ice Arena, Gillette, WY |
| Fri. Feb. 17 | @ Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Haynes Pavilion, Bozeman, MT |
| Sat. Feb. 18 | @ Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Haynes Pavilion, Bozeman, MT |
| Fri. Feb. 24 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| Sat. Feb. 25 | vs. Bozeman Ice Dogs | 7:30PM | Great Falls Ice Plex |
| MARCH 2023 | |||
| Fri. Mar. 3 | @ Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Riley Arena, Cody, WY |
| Sat. Mar. 4 | @ Yellowstone Quake | 7:30PM | Riley Arena, Cody, WY |
| End of 2022-23 Regular Season | |||
Click here to view the entire 2022-23 team-by-team schedule.
