March 12, 2014
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) regular season has come to a close and the 2014 NA3HL Silver Cup Playoffs are set to begin on Thursday, March 13th as the Division Semi-Finals face-off. The clubs are seeded within their own division based upon their finish in the NA3HL regular-season standings. The top four clubs from each division qualify for the playoffs, while all three teams from the South Division qualified for the playoffs.
Click here for the NA3HL Silver Cup Playoff Brackets and Schedule
Watch all the playoff games live on FASTHockey
The clubs are seeded within their own division based upon their finish in the NA3HL regular-season standings. In the Central, East and West Divisions, the top four clubs from each division qualify for the playoffs. The Club seeded first in each division will compete in a best-of-three series with the fourth seeded Club in the same division. The Club seeded second in each division will compete in a best-of-three-series against the Club seeded third in the same division. The #1 and #2 seeds will have home ice advantage in the first round. In the South Division, the #2 seed will face the #3 seed in the Semi-Finals in a three-game series. The two Clubs in each division that won a division semi-final series shall compete in a best-of-three series against each other in the Division Finals. In the South Division, the winner of the Semi-Final match-up shall face the #1 seed in the Division Finals.
Central Division Semi-Finals (best of three series)
#1 Peoria Mustangs vs. #4 Chicago Junior Bulldogs
Game 1: Fri, Mar. 14 – Chicago @ Peoria, 7:30pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – Chicago @ Peoria, 6:45pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Peoria @ Chicago, 6:30pm*
#2 St. Louis Jr. Blues vs. #3 Wisconsin Whalers
Game 1: Fri, Mar. 14 – St. Louis @ Wisconsin, 7:30pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – Wisconsin @ St. Louis, 8:00pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Wisconsin @ St. Louis, 1:00pm*
*if necessary
East Division Semi-Finals (best of three series)
#1 Flint Junior Generals vs. #4 Metro Jets
Game 1: Thu, Mar. 13 – Metro @ Flint, 8:00pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – Flint @ Metro, 3:00pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Metro @ Flint, 2:00pm*
#2 Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks vs. #3 Pittsburgh Vengeance
Game 1: Fri, Mar. 14 – Cleveland @ Pittsburgh, 8:30pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – Pittsburgh @ Cleveland, 8:30pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Pittsburgh @ Cleveland, 3:45pm*
*if necessary
South Division Semi-Finals (best of three series)
#1 Topeka Capitals (bye)
#2 Dallas Jr. Stars vs. #3 Sugar Land Imperials
Game 1: Thu, Mar. 13 – Sugar Land @ Dallas, 7:00pm
Game 2: Fri, Mar 14 – Sugar Land @ Dallas, 2:00pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar 16 – Dallas @ Sugar Land, 9:00am*
*if necessary
West Division Semi-Finals (best of three series)
#1 North Iowa Bulls vs. #4 Twin City Steel
Game 1: Fri, Mar. 14 – Twin City @ North Iowa, 7:30pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – North Iowa @ Twin City, 7:30pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Twin City @ North Iowa, 7:30pm*
#2 Granite City Lumberjacks vs. #3 Alexandria Blizzard
Game 1: Fri, Mar. 14 – Alexandria @ Granite City, 7:30pm
Game 2: Sat, Mar. 15 – Granite City @ Alexandria, 7:30pm
Game 3: Sun, Mar. 16 – Alexandria @ Granite City, 5:00pm*
*if necessary
Silver Cup Championship Tournament format
The four divisional playoff champions will compete in the NA3HL Championship Tournament, a three-game round robin format followed by a championship game at the Fox Valley Ice Arena, Geneva, Illinois, from March 27-30. Teams will be seeded according to their finish in the NA3HL regular season standings. A round-robin format will be implemented, with the top two teams advancing to the Silver Cup Championship Game. In the event of a tie after round-robin play, a tiebreaking procedure adopted in the rules and regulations shall be used to break the tie.
The winner and the runner-up of the NA3HL Silver Cup will then advance to play in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championship being held in Simsbury, Connecticut during the week after the Silver Cup.
