GREAT FALLS AMERICANS SELECT FOUR PLAYERS DURING WEDNESDAY’S 2021 NA3HL DRAFT

By Kevin Scott

GREAT FALLS, Mont., April 28, 2021 — During the 2021 NA3HL Entry Draft held on Wednesday, April 28th, the Great Falls Americans Junior A Hockey team drafted four players for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

To be eligible for the draft, amateur players under 21 years of age on December 31, 2021 who are not on an NA3HL squad or are listed on an NA3HL team roster but played less than 10 NA3HL regular season and/or playoff games during the 2020-21 season. Players could not have accepted a tender from an NA3HL team prior to this year’s draft were eligible to be selected in the draft.

All 34 teams participated in the four-round draft that began at 12:00PM (MST) with the draft taken place live online at (www.na3hldraft.com), through the NA3HL Twitter feed (@NA3HL) and fans listened through HockeyTV, the official broadcast partner of the league. Each team selected one pick during each round unless the team acquired or lost selections due to approved trades with other NA3HL clubs.

The NA3HL, entering their twelfth season in 2021-22, is one of USA Hockey’s top sanctioned Tier III Junior hockey leagues and helps train young athletes by having the best coaching, exposure, and developmental vehicles available in the country. During this past season, there were over 120 players in the NA3HL who made commitments in college or at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).

The league has teams in 17 states (including the newest Frontier Division member, the Badlands Sabres from Rapid City, South Dakota) and will be divided into five divisions (Central, Frontier, East, South, and West).

The eligible teams made selections in reverse order from their 2020-21 regular season finish based on their winning percentage. The new clubs that did not compete last season had their order of selection determined by a lottery.

Undrafted players are still able to participate and are encouraged to come to open tryout camps. There was a total of 136 players that were selected during the draft this year.

Great Falls selected Abraham Palma with the 26^th overall first round pick followed by two picks in the third round (Jace Thompson and Thomas Dalsin) and fourth round pick Paden Hicks. Great Falls traded their second-round pick to the Rochester (MN) Grizzlies while acquiring an extra third round pick from the Frontier Division’s Yellowstone (WY) Quake.

“We are really happy with the players we selected today,” said Great Falls Americans Head Coach and General Manager, Greg Sears. “We added some depth to our D-Core and chose some guys that may play at a higher level but took a chance on them as a back up plan for them. Either way, we are in a really good spot going into the spring recruiting season.”

The 2021-22 Americans draft selections are posted below.

Rd.	Overall Pick	Player	Pos.	Previous Team	Pick Traded To/From
1	26	Abraham Palma	N/A	Des Moines Junior Bucs AAA	—
With the 26th pick in the NA3HL Draft the Americans select Abraham Palma. Abraham played last season for the Des Moines Jr Bucs AAA program and is from Barcelona, Spain.
2	—	—	–	—	Traded Pick to Rochester (MN) Grizzlies
3	79	Jace Thompson	F	Jamestown High School (ND)	Pick acquired from Yellowstone (WY) Quake
The Americans selected Jace Thompson. Jace is from Valley City, North Dakota and played for Jamestown High School. Jace had 41 points in 18 games this season.
3	94	Thomas Dalsin	D	Shakopee High School (MN)	—
The Americans selected Thomas Dalsin. Thomas if from Shakopee, Minnesota. Thomas is a defenseman and was part of a good Shakopee squad this season. Thomas had 6 points in 18 games for the Sabres.
4	128	Paden Hicks	F	New Mexico Ice Wolves/ The Winchendon School (MA)	—
The Americans select Paden Hicks. Paden is a forward from Kansas City, Missouri. Paden played for The Winchendon School in Massachusetts and is currently with the New Mexico Ice Wolves.