2017 NA3HL Showcase begins on Sunday

December 16, 2017

The 2017 North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) Showcase is finally here and is taking place from December 17-19, 2017 at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. This season marks the eighth straight year the NA3HL will hold a league-wide Showcase, which features some of the best junior talent in the United States.

The NA3HL Showcase will feature all 42 NA3HL teams playing in one regular season game per day, for a total of 21 games per day during the three-day event. The 2017 NA3HL Showcase schedule pairs up evenly matched teams against one another based on the current standings, which is designed to have cross-divisional games with balanced competition.

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The NA3HL Showcase 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 scouts but NAHL Central Scouting is also in attendance, furthering the chances for players to earn a call up to the NAHL.

The NA3HL continues its tradition of serving as the best training ground of its kind in the country by providing the best exposure and developmental vehicles available for student-athletes at the Tier III junior level. In addition to a record number of players starting the year in the NAHL, the NA3HL saw over 35 players earn call-ups to the NAHL throughout the season in 2017. The NAHL wasn’t the only place where the NA3HL saw advancement, as over 130 players made college commitments last season.

“The NA3HL Showcase is an event we circle on the calendar every year and this year is going to be another exciting three days of competition that is all about opportunity for the players,” said NA3HL Commissioner Denny Scanlon. “We were very pleased with the event last year, which featured a format of evenly matched teams paired against one another based on current standings, and we will continue that again this year. The timing of the Showcase also comes at a great time for both college and junior scouts to attend.”

Scouts will 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 Schwan 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 and line charts for each game.

Another benefit of the NA3HL’s direct relationship with the NAHL is the presence of NAHL Central Scouting. A team of dedicated and knowledgeable scouts will be on hand at the Showcase evaluating NA3HL players in a true unbiased manner. That information on all players is then organized and provided to NAHL teams and college coaches. In a system that no other junior league in the United States has, individual player scouting profiles are then uploaded into the Rink Net database, the same service used by NCAA and NHL teams. NAHL Central Scouting is lead by Tony Zasowski, Director of Player of Personnel for the NAHL, NA3HL and NAPHL. His primary role is to coordinate the scouting at all events, and to promote player advancement and to supply information to NAHL, NCAA and other junior and collegiate coaches.

“Our hand-picked scouts are solely focused on evaluating as many NA3HL players as they can beginning this weekend and then getting that information organized and in the hands of NAHL and college coaches. I think that has helped us grow the advancement numbers and is something that is exclusive to the NA3HL,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld.

This weekend’s NA3HL Showcase is the perfect example of the ladder at work. While all 42 NA3HL teams will be playing three regular season games under one roof, all 23 NAHL teams will be at the event, with either their head or assistant coaches in attendance. That is on top of the dozens more of college coaches that will also be at the event.

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.