Will NA3HL traditions continue? — 2017-18 Season Review — NA3HL

By Jim den Hollander

Editor

Midwesthockey.info

Every season sees something new in the NA3HL but at this point, it seems tradition is a primary factor in this league.

That shows up in a big way in the standings as teams go up and down in terms of performance from season to season, but when the best of the best gather in Illinois each spring, there are a lot of familiar faces.

The 2017 Silver Cup – the league’s championship tournament had a cast of eight teams, all playoff winners in their respective divisions. Four of them were returning for a second straight season and two teams – North Iowa Bulls and Metro Jets were attending a third straight version of the event.

Over the past six seasons, the NA3HL has had just two champions. Last season, the Granite City Lumberjacks rallied from dropping its first game at the tournament with an undefeated record the rest of the way, culminating with a 2-1 win against the Metro Jets in the Championship game.

The Championship win was the third in the past six seasons by the Lumberjacks with the other three all belonging to the North Iowa Bulls, a West Division rival until this past season.

The loss to the Lumberjacks came as a disappointing finish for the Jets who wrapped up a perfect 47-0 campaign, something most people would tell you is impossible if it hadn’t happened.

So, if you are looking for favorites entering the new campaign, those three teams, from three different Midwest-based divisions, are certainly a good place to start. Don’t bet against the champ.

Here is a quick look at the four NA3HL Divisions that involve Midwest-based teams outlining some of the changes, as well as trends in those groups over the past few seasons.

West Division

2016-17 Finish: 1. Granite City Lumberjacks (32-8-5-2 – 71 points); 2. Alexandria Blizzard (32-12-0-3 – 67 points); 3. New Ulm Steel (26-18-0-3 – 55 points); 4. Breezy Point North Stars (25-19-3-0 – 53 points); 5. Willmar WarHawks (22-22-2-1 – 47 points).

This division is top to bottom the most competitive in the league. That’s not saying this division contains the best teams, but instead that there are no weak links in this division. Willmar WarHawks missed the post season with a .500 record last season and finished at the bottom of the West Division. There were other divisions where the playoff line was drawn higher, but the other divisions all had more teams and among them, teams that finished with 30 or less points. There were no ‘gimme’s in this division and that has been the norm more often than not.

That high level of competition in the division matches might have played a part in the Lumberjacks and Bulls being such strong participants in the Silver Cup each year. The Lumberjacks and Blizzard both won 32 games this past season, but it was the North Stars holding top spot through most of the season’s first half.

Expect more of the same this season – Granite City always enters as a favorite, but any one of these teams could bring something extra this year. Because of the parity, don’t expect anyone to be cooled out and coasting at any point.

East Division

2016-17 Finish: 1. Metro Jets (47-0-0-0 – 94 points); 2. Pittsburgh Vengeance (28-16-3-0 – 59 points); 3. Toledo Cherokee (24-21-2-0 – 50 points); 4. West Michigan Wolves (22-22-1-2 – 47 points); 5. Wooster Oilers (15-27-4-1 – 35 points); 6. Southern Tier Express (15-28-4-0 – 34 points).

The East is not all based in the Midwest – Pittsburgh and Southern Tier falling outside of the boundaries, but the rest are in the Midwest. This division clearly had the league’s best regular season entry but the depth fell off a bit after the top half.

Ironically, after a perfect regular season, the Jets dropped its playoff opener in Battle Creek against the Wolves, a .500 team and just like that, it was the Jets with its back to the wall. The Wolves and Vengeance, who also opened the second round with a victory, both played the Jets tough, but the experienced group pulled through to make the Cup tournament.

The Jets team was loaded with veteran talent so it will be interesting to see how the turnover plays out.

There are no major changes in the division this season – the Wolves are heading north a bit to Lansing but are still the Wolves.

Midwest Division

2016-17 Finish: 1. St. Louis Jr. Blues (36-9-0-2 – 74 points); 2. Peoria Mustangs (28-16-3-0 – 59 points); 3. Nashville Jr. Predators (25-15-5-2 – 57 points); 4. Cincinnati Thunder (18-25-2-2 – 40 points); 5. Evansville Jr. Thunderbolts (14-31-1-1 – 30 points).

Like the Lumberjacks, Bulls and Jets, the Jr. Blues are perennial division winners in the Midwest. Generally, it is the team’s closest rival, the Mustangs, that provides the biggest threat, but this time around the Blues had a 15-point margin on the runners up who found themselves in a dogfight down the stretch with the Jr. Preds. Cincy and Evansville took their lumps in 2016-17 in hopes for experience that will help in the future.

The Blues were a powerhouse going back to the Central States Hockey League Days and have won the Silver Cup eight times. However, while the Blues are always in the mix, the last time it brought the championship hardware home was 2010.

Central Division

2016-17 Finish: 1. North Iowa Bulls (35-10-1-1 – 72 points); 2. La Crosse Freeze (23-22-2-0 – 48 points); 3. Wisconsin Whalers (19-23-5-0 – 43 points); 4. Rochester Ice Hawks (10-36-0-1 – 21 points); 5. Chicago Bulldogs (1-45-0-1 – 3 points).

The Bulls moved to the Central Division and dominated the four other teams from the Chicago-Twin Cities corridor, wrapping up a division title with 24 points to spare. That coming in a season with 10 losses. It’s probably been a half dozen or more seasons since the Bulls hit double digits in the loss column.

The Bull pushed the Ice Hawks and then the Freeze to the sidelines and despite winning two out of three matches at the Silver Cup, the Bulls did not get a chance to move on to semis and defend its title, losing on in math equations as three of the four teams in its pool ended at 2-1.

The Freeze and Whalers were competitive with each other through the regular season and engaged in a tough three-game playoff ultimately captured by the Freeze. Rochester has a proud history and should improve this season while the Bulldogs have closed shop, making way for the expansion Wausau RiverWolves.

Hopefully the gap closes, but the North Iowa Bulls are always the team to beat in this division.

The other for NA3HL Divisions include the eight-team Frontier Division, made up of teams from Montana/Wyoming, the six-team South Division made up of teams from Texas, Louisiana and Georgia and then two East Coast Divisions – the Coastal Division made up of six New England area clubs and the Northeast Division with six teams in Jersey and Upstate New York.

League play begins on the Sept. 8-10 weekend and culminates in mid-March. Once again, each Division will play through a pair of rounds to advance Division Champions to the Silver Cup, played in recent seasons in the Chicago area.