Top FALL teams start separating on Day 2 in Blaine
The first event of the 2022-23 North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) season continued on Sunday as the FALL League took to the ice for Day 2 of the Labor Day event at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. The full event runs from September 3-5.
This is the first NAPHL event of the 2022-23 season, which is the 14th season of the NAPHL. This will be the third season of the FALL League.
This NAPHL FALL League is designed to give U18 and U16 teams the ability to play in a league within a shortened window of time before the Minnesota and Wisconsin high school seasons begin.
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Day 2 Recaps
18U Division: In the opening game of 18U action on Sunday, it took 18 combined shooters in the shootout, but the St. Cloud Norsemen edged the Janesville Jets, 3-2. St. Cloud goalie Wes Johnson made 26 saves and then stopped all nine Janesville shooters in the shootout to pick up the win. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs picked up a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wilderness. Clayton Deutsch had a goal and two assists and Jack Roach made 26 saves in the win. The Chippewa Steel goal an overtime goal from Mark DeNoyer as the edged the Austin Bruins in overtime, 2-1. In the final game, it was all Kenai River as they beat Wisconsin, 7-2. Coltin Wassengeso and Lucas Busch each had three points in the win.
16U Division: The Janesville Jets picked up three points on Sunday, as they beat St. Cloud 8-1 behind a hat-trick from Zaylin Sweet. Earlier in the day, they fell to the Wilderness 4-3 in overtime as Eli Kassler had two goals in the losing effort. Fairbanks went 1-1 on the day with a 3-2 overtime win over the Wilderness and a 1-0 loss to the Steel. George Daravingas had the OT-winner for the IceDogs. The Steel were big winners on Sunday, as they won both games and posted a shutout in both games. Charlie Zurowski made 12 saves and six different players scored in a 6-0 win over Austin, while Tate Kelsey made 20 saves in a 1-0 shutout of Fairbanks. The Kenai River Brown Bears also won big on Sunday.
There will be three events, all of which are at the Super Rink in Blaine, MN, which will all take place before the high school seasons begin. The first event will take place from September 3-5. The second event will take place from September 15-18 in cooperation with the NAHL Showcase. The third and final event will take place from October 15-17 in Blaine, Minnesota, and will be the Fall League Playoff Championship.
Each team playing in the NAPHL Fall League will be named after an NAHL team and be represented as such. The NAPHL Fall League events are designed to maximize exposure for the players and bring together teams for likeminded and enhanced competition. Players will also participate in seminars that discuss the NAHL junior hockey experience, the ladder of development, as well as NCAA compliance seminars.
NAHL teams that are taking part in the Fall League with youth teams are: Austin Bruins, Chippewa Steel, Fairbanks Ice Dogs, Janesville Jets, Kenai River Brown Bears, Minnesota Wilderness. St. Cloud Norsemen, and Wisconsin Windigo.
Members of the NAPHL get the opportunity to attend some of the most dynamic and highly scouted events. Every member is guaranteed the opportunity to compete at the NAHL Showcase, which features every NCAA Division 1 and every NHL team along with dozens of junior scouts under one roof. No matter what age classification, the NAPHL provides the most dynamic vertical exposure structure designed specifically to educate, develop, expose and advance players in the NAPHL.
Entering its 14th season, the NAPHL has proved over the years that the league is a great stepping-stone for development and training for young hockey players looking to gain experience and knowledge to work their way up to the National level. No other USA Hockey Midget Tier I league has had more players play in the NAHL over the course of the last five seasons than the NAPHL, which included over 80+ NAPHL alumni playing in the NAHL during the 2021-22 season.
In addition to the 20 players who were drafted, a record number of 66 players who played in the league during the 2021-22 season signed NAHL tenders for the upcoming 2022-23 season. In total, a total of 86 NAPHL players were either drafted or tendered by NAHL teams for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
