By NA3HL
DALLAS, TX., October 11, 2021 —The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is pleased to announce the dates for the 2021 NA3HL Showcase, which will take place from December 20-22, 2021, at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. This season marks the 11th year the NA3HL will hold a league-wide Showcase, which features some of the best junior talent in the United States. The event will be played in cooperation with the seventh NAPHL event of the season, which will take place from December 17-20, 2021, at the Super Rink and includes the NAPHL 16U and 18U All-Star games on Sunday, December 19th.
All NA3HL teams will play three regular-season games at the Showcase, which is annually one of the most well-attended and scouted events of the entire season for the league, attracting college and junior scouts alike. The NA3HL Showcase brings every NA3HL team under one roof, which allows scouts to see all the great talent the league has to offer. Not only does the showcase see a large presence of NCAA and ACHA scouts, but all of the NAHL teams in attendance, furthering the chances for players to earn a call up to the NAHL.
The 2021 NA3HL Showcase schedule will be released on Wednesday, December 1st and will pair up evenly matched teams against one another based on the current standings and is also designed to have cross-divisional games with balanced competition.
The NA3HL is in its 12th season in 2021-22 and serves as one of the top training grounds in the country by providing the best coaching, exposure and developmental vehicles available for student-athletes in Tier III junior hockey. It is one of only two USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior leagues. No other league of its kind has had more movement and advanced more players onto play in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) than the NA3HL. Thanks to additional and enhanced initiatives in cooperation with the NAHL put in place several years ago, more players from the NA3HL play, practice, and earn NCAA Division I scholarships with the NAHL than any other league.
This past season not only did 35 NA3HL players sign tenders to play in the NAHL for the 2021-22 season, but 21 more players were selected in the 2021 NAHL Draft. The NA3HL also continues to make its mark and is one of the leaders in junior hockey with the advancement of players onto the NCAA. In 2021, the NA3HL had over 100+ college commitments, with almost 70% of those being NCAA commitments. In addition, over 300 former NA3HL players are currently playing in the NCAA, and 13% of NCAA Division III freshmen this season previously played in the NA3HL.
“After the NA3HL Showcase was canceled in 2020, we are thrilled to be back at the Super Rink in Blaine for the 2021 NA3HL Showcase and expect it to be bigger and better than ever. This event is a great and unique opportunity for the players and the timing works out well for all of the college and NAHL scouts and coaches to attend. The continued advancement of NA3HL players to the NAHL is a direct result of the unique relationship the two leagues share and the exposure players are getting at NA3HL events like the Showcase,” said NAHL Commissioner Blake Macnicol.
For more details on the 2021 NA3HL Showcase, including ticket, hotel, rental car, scouting and schedule information, visit: na3hl.com/showcase. All the games at the NA3HL Showcase will be broadcast live and in HD on HockeyTV.
There will be no admission fee for the 2021 NA3HL Showcase. Scouts will also receive complimentary admission to the NA3HL Showcase. Proper identification and team/league affiliation must be presented at the admission counter in order to receive a scout pass. Scout packet includes a pass for entrance into the Super Rink for all three days of the event, access to the scout room, which will include catered food and beverage throughout the event, a tournament program, scout gift, and line charts for each game.
As an additional element to the program this season, an NCAA education and compliance seminar will be presented to all players, coaches and parents during the NA3HL Showcase. This will be the same presentation used in NAHL seminars and the focus will be on differences between NCAA Division I, Division III and ACHA, the breakdown of NCAA I conference landscape, NCAA Initial Eligibility information including important new rules going into effect this season and how future players will be affected, the recruiting process and how to market yourself.
The Super Rink is the largest ice arena of its kind in the world. The state-of-the-art facility, a $21 million project totaling over 300,000 square feet, features eight sheets of ice under one roof.
Story Courtesy: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): NA3HL announces dates for 2021 Showcase (October 11, 2021)
