NA3HL Announces Fraser Cup Playoff Format
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) has announced the format for the 2025 NA3HL Fraser Cup Playoffs and Championship. The Fraser Cup crowns the national playoff champion from the NA3HL.
NA3HL Divisional Playoffs
Division Semifinals (March 13-16): The top four teams in each division qualify for playoff competition. 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. The higher seed shall have the right to host games one and three. The lower seed shall have the right to host game two. An alternate arrangement may be reached upon mutual agreement between the clubs. The first club to win two games in a division semifinal series will be declared the winner of the series and advance to the next round of playoff competition.
Division Finals (March 20-23): The two clubs in each division that won a division semifinal series shall compete in a best-of-three series against each other in the division finals. The higher seed shall have the right to host games one and three. The lower seed shall have the right to host game two. An alternate arrangement may be reached upon mutual agreement between the clubs. The first club to win two games in a division final series will be declared the winner of the series and advance to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament.
Fraser Cup Championship Tournament
The five divisional playoff champions and one wild card team will advance to the NA3HL Fraser Cup Championship Tournament, where they will play a two-game round-robin format followed by a semifinal and a championship game at the St. Peters Rec-Plex in St. Peters, MO from March 26-30. A round-robin format with two pools will be implemented, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the semifinals, where they will then cross over to play the other top two teams from the other pool. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the Fraser Cup Final.
The wild card team will be the team losing in the divisional final round with the highest points percentage (win % in the NA3HL Standings) during the regular season compared to the other divisional final losing teams. The six teams that advance to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament will be seeded 1-5 based on their division’s performance against other divisions at the NA3HL Showcase. The wild card team will be the 6th seed.
Pool A: (#1) Central Division Winner, (#4) Frontier Division Winner, (#6) Wild Card Team
Pool B: (#2) West Division Winner, (#3) South Division Winner, (#5) East Division Winner
Pool Play (All Times Central)
Wednesday, March 26: Central vs. Frontier, 4pm - West vs. South, 7:30pm
Thursday, March 27: Central vs. Wild Card, 4pm - West vs. East, 7:30pm
Friday, March 28: Frontier vs. Wild Card, 4pm - South vs. East, 7:30pm
Semifinals
Saturday, March 29: Pool A 1st place vs. Pool B 2nd place, 4pm - Pool B 1st place vs. Pool A 2nd place, 7:30pm
Championship
Sunday, March 30: Fraser Cup Final, 4pm
The Fraser Cup will be held in cooperation with the first of five 2025 NAHL Combine events. Entering its 12th year in 2025, the NAHL Combines introduce and provide players with a weekend that involves the 'NAHL Experience,' which will consist of competitive hockey, education of the future levels of hockey, academic preparation for NCAA hockey and exposure to professional, college and junior scouts.
Tie-Breaking Policy
At the conclusion of the NA3HL regular season, clubs that play an equal number of games against their opponents and that have an equal number of points shall have their final position in the NA3HL standings determined by applying the following tie breaking procedures:
A. Most wins during the regular season.
B. Head-to-head competition during the regular season.
C. Goal differential in head-to-head competition during the regular season.
D. Total goal differential during the regular season.
E. Coin flip.
