Top Prospects Tournament: Team White and Team Yellow win on Day 1

The 2025 North American 3 Hockey League’s annual Top Prospects Tournament (TPT) took place on Monday, February 17 and Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. The ‘all-star’ like tournament is played in cooperation with the 2025 North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) Top Prospects Tournament at the same facility. The 2025 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament provides an opportunity for the NA3HL to showcase their best hockey players in front of coaches and scouts from the North American Hockey League (NAHL), the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and the NCAA college levels. There will be four TPT teams (Team Black, Team Yellow, Team Blue, and Team White) that will play two games each day. The teams will consist of 20 players (12 forwards, 6 defensemen and two goalies) and one head coach. Players considered for this prestigious event had to be nominated by their respective coaches. The Frontier Division will have a total of 17 players playing for Team Blue (and three players from the Minnesota Moose) competing in the ‘all-star like” event including Ty O’Bey and Kaden Rhyder from the Americans, the Helena Bighorns had four selections (forwards Chase Berg and Finn Theriault and defensemen Kelton Chadwich and Hunter Coulombe), three from the Sheridan (WY) Hawks (forwards Vincent Leaf and Josh Serino and defenseman Logan Hume), two members each from the Badlands (SD) Sabres (forwards Zach Vockler and Ryan Jordan) and Bozeman Ice Dogs (forwards Devin Bruns and Spencer Wilkinson and defenseman Weston Villers and forward Loghan Weber from the Butte Irish. The Yellowstone (WY) Quake is represented by defenseman Sam Goulden and the Gillette Wild will have forward Max Arlt on the team. Reid Watson (forward), Sam Knight (defenseman) and goaltender Dylan Posch round out the squad representing the Minnesota Moose in the NA3HL’s West Division. “Both Kaden and Ty are very deserving of this honor,” said Great Falls Americans Head Coach Greg Sears. “We are excited that they get to represent the Americans in Michigan.” Team Yellow powers by Team Blue, 10-3 Dantae Hunziker (New Mexico Ice Wolves/Gillette Wild) scored two goals, and two assists and teammate Joseph Gutierrez (El Paso Rhinos) chipped in two goals to power Team Yellow by Team Blue, 10-3 during the first day of the two-day 2025 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament in Plymouth, Michigan on Monday morning. Great Falls Americans forward Ty O’Bey saw action but did not score and goaltender Kaden Rhyder made 15 saves in 28 minutes of action for Team Blue. Team Yellow led 4-1 after the first twenty minutes. Helena Bighorns forward Chase Berg scored the game’s first goal off the stick of Zack Vockler (Badlands Sabres) for Team Blue before Dantae Hunziker (Gillette Wild) scored with help from Guhnar Hillman (Austin Ice Bats) for Team Yellow to even the score (1-1). Team Yellow then scored three straight goals from Austin Tyler (Tulsa Jr. Oilers/Helena Bighorns), Issa Murakami (New Mexico Ice Wolves) and Jake Malzone (Texas Brahmas). Donovan Bradford (El Paso Rhinos) and Charles Blake (Texas Roadrunners) assisted on Tyler’s score and Issa Murakami (New Mexico Ice Wolves), and Carson Wendorff (Willmar WarHawks) assisted on Malzone’s scoring drive. Max Arlt (Gillette Wild) added the lone goal for Team Blue early in the middle period. Brody Neish (Louisiana Drillers), Jake Bergstrom (Louisiana Drillers) and Joseph Gutierrez (El Paso Rhinos) put in the goals for Team Yellow. Dantae Hunziker (Gillette Wild) assisted on the Neish and Bergstrom goals. Yellow led 7-2 as the third period began. Sheridan Hawks’ Vincent Leaf scored for Team Blue with Bozeman Ice Dogs’ Spencer Wilkinson and Reid Watson from the Minnesota Moose assisted to cut the lead to 7-3. Team Yellow was too much as they scored three goals in a nine-minute stretch to close out the game. Dante Hunziker, Charles Blake, and Joseph Gutierrez each put the biscuit in the basket. Jake Bergstrom, Austin Tyler, Issa Murakami, Guhnar Hillman, and Sam Morganti added the helpers. Team Yellow outshot Team Blue, 46-22. No penalties were called for either squad during the sixty-minute contest. Robert Pogosyan (Atlanta Capitals) and Gavin Morris (Austin Ice Bats) combined for 19 saves for Team Yellow. Kaden Rhyder (Great Falls) made 15 saves in 29 minutes and Dylan Posch (Minnesota Moose) made 21 saves in the loss. Team White outlasts Team Black, 6-4 Team White’s Justin Funk and Brayden Davis combined for four goals and one assist as Team White pulled away from Team Black, 6-4 in the first game of the NA3HL’s Top Prospects Tournament. Eli Fletcher and Caleb Waller each scored one goal and dished out one assist for Team Black. Team Black took a 2-1 advantage after two periods. Ethan Miller and Jason DiMatteo (Binghamton Buzz) scored before the second intermission. Jason DiMatteo, Carson Curry (Binghamton Buzz), Hugh Deinema (Wisconsin Woodsmen) and Ben Parent (Rochester Grizzlies) each earned assists. Team White outscored Team Black, 5-3 in the third behind the scoring efforts of Hugh Deinema, Justin Funk, Brayden Davis (two goals, St. Louis Jr. Blues), and Wyatt Duke (Peoria Mustangs). Caleb Waller and Eli Fletcher (Alexandria Blizzard) produced two third period scores for Team Black. Justin Funk, Sam Menne (Mason City Toros), Jake Gallows (Wausau Cyclones), Marcus Fritel (Mason City Toros/Helena Bighorns), Brody Josselyn and Jackson Hoem (West Bend Power) all assisted for Team White. Caleb Waller, Tony Morran (Norwich Sea Captains), Eli Fletcher and Ashton Collings (Alexandria Blizzard) earned assists for Team Black. Team White gathered 19 of their 42 shots in the middle period while Team Black had 20 after the first period. One minor infraction was called on Team White in the first period for tripping. The goaltending duo of Tanner Bonjernoor (Wausau Cyclones) and Nick Hansen (Granite City Lumberjacks) accumulated 21 saves for the winning White squad. Charlie Donoghue (New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings) acquired 35 saves for Team Black.