By NA3HL
March 1, 2026
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) has announced the format for the 2026 Fraser Cup Playoffs and Championship, officially setting the stage for the league’s postseason push.
The Fraser Cup serves as the culmination of the NA3HL season, bringing together the top teams from across the league to compete for the Championship title.
Division Semifinals (March 11–15):
The top four teams in each division qualify for the postseason. In the semifinals, the No. 1 seed faces the No. 4 seed, while the No. 2 seed takes on the No. 3 seed, with both matchups played as best-of-three series.
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds earn home-ice advantage in the opening round. Alternate scheduling arrangements may be made if mutually agreed upon by both teams.
The first team to secure two wins advances to the next round of the playoffs.
Division Finals (March 18-22):
The two semifinal winners in each division will meet in a best-of-three Division Final series.
Home-ice advantage goes to the higher seed.
The first team to earn two victories will be crowned Division Champion and punch its ticket to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament.
Fraser Cup Championship Tournament (March 25-29)
The six divisional playoff champions 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. 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.
Pool A: (#1) Central Division Winner, (#4) Frontier Division Winner, (#6) Southeast Division Winner
Pool B: (#2) West Division Winner, (#3) South Division Winner, (#5) East Division Winner
Pool Play (All Times Central)
Wednesday, March 25: Central vs. Frontier, 4pm – West vs. South, 7:30pm
Thursday, March 26: Central vs. Southeast, 4pm – West vs. East, 7:30pm
Friday, March 27: Frontier vs. Southeast, 4pm – South vs. East, 7:30pm
Semifinals
Saturday, March 28: Pool A 1st place vs. Pool B 2nd place, 4pm – Pool B 1st place vs. Pool A 2nd place, 7:30pm
Championship
Sunday, March 29: Fraser Cup Final, 4pm
The Fraser Cup will be held in cooperation with the first of five 2026 NAHL Combine events. Entering its 13th year in 2026, 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, teams 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. The greater number of games won, excluding games won in overtime or by shootout (IE: Regulation wins). This figure is reflected in the “RW” column.
B. The greater number of games won, excluding games won by shootout. This figure is reflected in the “ROW” column.
C. The greater number of games won by the team in any matter (IE: Total wins). This figure is reflected in the “W” column.
D. The greater number of points earned in games against each other among two or more tied clubs. For the purpose of determining standing for two or more Clubs that have not played an even number of games with one or more of the other tied Clubs, the first game played in the city that has the extra game (the ‘odd game’) shall not be included. When more than two teams are tied, the percentage of available points earned in games among each other (and not including any ‘odd games’) shall be used to determine standing.
E. The greater differential between goals for and against (including goals scored in Overtime or awarded for prevailing in Shootouts) for the entire regular season. This figure is reflected in the DIFF column.
F. The greater number of goals scored (including goals scored in Overtime or awarded for prevailing in Shootouts) for the entire regular season. This figure is reflected in the GF column.
Story Courtesy: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): NA3HL Announces Fraser Cup Playoff Format (March 1, 2026)