By Kevin Scott
DALLAS, TX., March 21, 2024 — The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) have announced the rosters (including coaches) and tournament schedule for the 2024 Top Prospects Tournament that will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, 2024, at the St. Peter’s Rec Plex in St; Peters, Missouri.
The two-day annual Top Prospects Tournament (TPT), held in conjunction with the 2024 North American Hockey League (NAHL) Fraser Cup Championship Tournament (March 20-24, 2024), where the five division winners and one wild card meet in a round-robin tournament with semifinals and championship game taking place over a four-day period.
There will be four TPT teams (Team Red, Team Blue, Team Gold, and Team White) that will play two games each day. The teams will consist of 22 players (12 forwards, 8 defenseman and two goalies) and one head coach. Players considered for this prestigious event had to be nominated by their respective coaches and must not be competing in the Fraser Cup this year.
The NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament, one of the most highly scouted events with many junior and college scouts in attendance, is another great example of the cooperative relationship and ladder of development between the NA3HL and NAHL. The fact remains that when it comes to Tier III junior leagues, no other league has had more movement and advanced more players onto play in the NAHL than the NA3HL. Through the NAHL’s vast resources for development and exposure, like the annual Top Prospects Tournament, the NA3HL provides a worthy path for players to grow on and off the ice, while being highlighted in front of the entire junior, college, and professional scouting community.
The NA3HL is in its 14th season in 2023-24 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.
The Great Falls Americans will have two forwards, Ty O’Bey and Aiden Kennedy, defenseman Luke Pizzey and goaltender Kaden Rhyder playing on Team Gold.
In addition to the players being announced, the coaches were also named. Oregon Tradesmen Head Coach Eric Fenton will guide Team Gold, Nathan Oystrick from the Wausau Cyclones will coach Team Red, Tyler Veen of the Rochester Grizzlies will lead Team Blue and Team White will be coached by New Jersey Titans mentor Andrei Kapranov.
The Frontier Division will have a total 14 players spread throughout the four teams competing in the ‘all-star like” event including four from the Americans (Ty O’Bey, Luke Pizzey, Aiden Kennedy, and Kaden Ryhder), and four from the Bozeman Ice Dogs (Bodie Shepardson, Wes Innes, Bryce Sturm, and Matthew Ryynanen). There will be two representatives from the Butte Irish (Andrew Browe and Braylon Rogers), Owen Schoonover and Leo Carter (Yellowstone Quake), Tanner Freed and Daniil Viscu from the Sheridan Hawks and Dylan Woolstenhulme and Ryan Jordan from the Badlands Sabres. The Helena Bighorns and the Gillette Wild, the top two finishers in the Frontier Division, do not have any players on the team as they are competing in the Fraser Cup Tournament.
To view the full list of coaches and the roster, please click here.
“We are excited to have four guys represent the Americans in St. Louis this weekend,” said Great Falls Americans Head Coach Greg Sears. “All four guys are very deserving, and I am glad they get the opportunity to represent the Americans.”
NAHLTV will be streaming all four games of the Top Prospects Tournament.
2024 Top Prospects Tourney Schedule: (All Times converted to Mountain Standard Time)
Saturday, March 23
8:30AM: Team White vs. Team Red
11:15AM: Team Blue vs. Team Gold
Sunday, March 24
8:30AM: Team Gold vs. Team White
11:15AM: Team Red vs. Team Blue
To view more information about the 2024 Top Prospects Tournament, please visit the tournament webpage: http://na3hl.com/tpt/