Wednesday, December 05, 2007

NAHL announces Ann Arbor tournament

The North American Hockey League announced today details on its first annual Top Prospects Tournament, which will be held February 17-19 at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor.

The event will feature all-star teams from the NAHL's Central, North and South Divisions, as well as a team from the U.S. National Team Development Program, competing in a three-game, round-robin tournament.

“This is shaping up to be an exciting event that can’t help but draw a significant number of college and professional scouts,” said NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld.

Each team will consist of a 20-man roster. In the two, six-team divisions - the Central and South – five players will represent the first-place team as of January 1; four will represent the second-place team; three for the third; and two for the fifth- and sixth-place teams. Coaches will also select one wildcard player from each of the two divisions. In the five-team North Division (excluding the NTDP), five players will represent the first-place team as of January 1; four will represent the second-place team; and three will represent the third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams.

Coaches will also select two wildcard players from the division.

The NTDP team will be comprised of players from both the Under-17 and Under-18 Teams.

The rosters will be announced on Monday, January 14.

Coaches for the Top Prospects teams will be selected based on the highest winning percentage in the standings as of January 1. The first-place team’s coach in each division will serve as head coach, while the second-place team’s coach will serve as the assistant coach.

In conjunction with the Top Prospects Tournament, the third and final event of the season's NAHL Midget Showcase Series will be held February 15-18 at the Ice Cube.

A USA Hockey Tier I sanctioned event, the tournament will field 12 teams at the Midget Major level.

Applications, which can be found at nahlmidgetshowcase.com, are still being accepted for the Midget Showcase event, with all teams being notified of their application status by January 1.

More details on the Top Prospects Tournament and the Midget Showcase Series will be released in the coming weeks.

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