The Junior A Tier III National Tournament is this coming weekend in Boston, MA. The Helena Big Horns and the Seattle Totems are representing NorPac - North Pacific Hockey League. The other Junior A Tier III leagues competing are (also listed are how many teams in the league, and the two teams representing the league):- Atlantic Junior Hockey League (12 teams, TBA)
- Eastern Junior Hockey League (14 teams, New Hampshire Monarchs & New Jersey Hitmen)
- Central States Hockey League (12 teams, St. Louis Jr. Blues, TBA)
- Minnesota Junior Hockey League (9 teams, Minnesota Ice Hawks, Granite City Lumberjacks)
- Western States Hockey League (11 teams, El Paso Rhinos & Phoenix Polar Bears)
The tournament divides the teams into three divisions, four teams per division, and then round-robin play begins. There are 3 games for each team. The best team in each division moves to the Semis and then a Championship game. Generally, any loss in the round-robin play will likely eliminate you from the championship. Two losses and you're definitely out. NorPac teams play as follows:
- Friday, Mar. 27. Seattle(h) v. Atlantic Junior League #1 seed at 3:40 PM. Helena(h) v. Atlantic Junior League #2 seed at 5:00 PM.
- Saturday, Mar. 28. Granite City Lumberjacks(h) v. Seattle at 2:30 PM. Helena(h) v. El Paso Rhinos at 3:20 PM.
- Sunday, Mar. 29. CSHL #2 seed(h) v. Seattle at 3:00 PM. New Hampshire Monarchs(h) v. Helena at 6:00 PM.
Last year (2008) the Totems record was 1-2, the Big Horns record was 2-1. The title game was between the New Jersey Hitmen (AJHL) and the New Hampshire Monarchs (EJHL). The Monarchs won the championship. The Totems played the Hitmen in round robin play and lost 1-11.
If you are interested in the National Jr. A Tier III tournament, you can visit the USA Hockey website: (http://www.usahockey.com//Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=PL_02_02&ID=7604)
