16U teams take center stage on Day 1 of NAPHL event
December 14, 2019
The sixth event of the 2019-20 NAPHL season got underway on Friday as the league returned to the NSC Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota for four days of hockey action.
On Friday, all the NAPHL's 16U teams were in action in the High Performance, Elite and Showcase Divisions.
All games this weekend will be broadcast live on HockeyTV
This weekend’s event features the 18U and 16U High Performance, Elite, and Showcase Division teams. This weekend also features the 2019-20 NAPHL 18U and 16U All-Star Games, which are scheduled for Sunday, December 15th at 6:30pm (18U) and 8:30pm (16U).
This weekend's event is played in cooperation with the 2019 NA3HL Showcase, which runs from December 15-17 at the Super Rink. All NA3HL teams will play three regular-season games at the Showcase, which 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.
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Day 1 recaps:
16U Division
There were a whopping 33 16U games on Friday, as Tier I and Showcase division teams all hit the ice in Blaine.
Florida and Gentry kicked things off with a heavyweight tilt won by the Alliance, 7-4, followed by Arizona shutting out Sioux Falls 2-0. Then, Geneva handled McKinney 4-1, Northern Express knocked off Central Florida 5-1, West Dundee topped DYHA 5-2, and Everett edged Esmark 3-2.
From there, shutouts highlighted the midday action. Naperville, Chicago Jets, Carshield, Affton and Vegas each notched successive goose eggs, shutting out Park City 5-0, Lansing 3-0, Madison 7-0, Arizona Mission 5-0 and Chesterfield 6-0, respectively.
Kicking off the afternoon action, Highland Park dropped Arizona 5-1, Littleton held off Texas 2-0, Meijer took down Omaha 6-2, Orland Park escaped with a 4-3 win over Nashville, Clearwater cruised past Chicago Hawks 6-3 and Des Moines beat Colorado Springs 2-1.
Continuing the matinee matchups, Northern Express dispatched McKinney 8-1, Geneva shut down Park City 3-0, Florida Alliance dominated Carshield 12-1, Vegas slipped past West Dundee 5-4 in OT and Gentry rebounded with a 5-2 decision against Sioux Falls.
As the day came closer to an end, Meijer toppled Esmark 3-1, Highland Park steamrolled Nashville 7-0, Naperville downed Arizona Mission 11-3, Affton slipped past Central Florida 4-2, Chesterfield edged Arizona 2-1 and Everett roared past Madison 4-1.
Finally ending a full day, Orland Park beat Lansing 5-1, Omaha notched a 5-1 win of their own over Colorado Springs, Arizona took a 3-2 OTW over Des Moines, Littleton bottled up DYHA 3-1 and Chicago Jets outmatched Clearwater 3-2.
18U Division
Just one game in the 18U division took place on Friday, as Omaha took down Carshield 5-4 in a shootout. Bryce Battaglia was the hero for Omaha, scoring once in regulation, assisting two others AND netting the shootout winner. Andrew Kool, Patrick Wyers and Jack Zimmer also found twine for Omaha, while Adam Rischbieter, Tony Andrews and Coby Weber nabbed Carshield’s tallies. Trevor Wong’s 27 saves earned the win between the pipes, just edging out Teddy Stevens of Carshield, who stopped 28.
