The first weekend of February brings us to Week 20 of the 2023-24 North American hockey season. February means that showcase-league and full-season league playoffs are either getting underway or right around the corner, and that means state, district, provincial, regional and national tournaments will be here before we know it.

This week, for our Week 20 Games of the Week, we will be providing coverage of the seventh and final North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) T1ER showcase weekend for 18U and 16U USA Tier 1 Boys teams as well as the Florida Exposure Cup, one of the most-anticipated USA Boys Tier 1 tournaments for 13U (2010), 14U and 15O teams.

The NAPHL is a unique showcase-style league that falls under the umbrella of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). Now it its 49^th season, the NAHL is the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier 2 tuition-free junior hockey league in the U.S., featuring 32 teams in 17 states.

The NAHL annually has more than 300 players commit to play NCAA college hockey, with about 75 percent moving on to compete at the Division I level.

Teams in the NAPHL are afforded the opportunity to complete against top Tier 1 and Tier 2 youth programs from all over the United States during various showcase weekends held throughout the season. The weekend showcases are scouted by NAHL personnel, and some of them are held in conjunction with NAHL events such as the league’s season-opening September showcase and its annual Top Prospects Tournament.

This type of cooperative scheduling provides maximum exposure for NAPHL players and makes it easy for NAHL scouts and coaches to attend several events each season. NAHL teams also are required to designate some of their tender agreements solely for NAPHL players. So far this season, 39 NAPHL players have signed tender agreements for the 2024-25 season with NAHL clubs.

This weekend’s NAPHL T1ER Showcase in the Pittsburgh area is for the league’s Central Division teams and is being held in conjunction with the Top Prospect Tournament, which is scheduled for early next week and includes games featuring the top college prospects from the NAHL as well as the 18U and 16U NAPHL divisions.

The NAPHL T1ER Dixon Cup Championship playoffs are scheduled for Feb. 16-19 in Detroit.

The Florida Exposure Cup is one of several similar events held around the United States each year by the Exposure Hockey Group.

It has become an extremely popular tournament because of the caliber of teams it attracts from both the U.S. and Canada, the location and the timing. Hockey families are able to escape the winter cold for a quick trip to Florida, and top teams get to play against each other in preparation for their upcoming league and district playoffs. It is held in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla.

 

NAPHL T1ER Central Division Showcase

The final 18U and 16U NAPHL T1ER Showcase weekend of the season runs Friday through Sunday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. It is being held in conjunction with the annual NAHL and NAPHL Top Prospects Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 5 and 6 at the same location.

More than 30 18U and 16U NAPHL T1ER teams are participating this weekend, including several teams that find themselves at or near the top of the league standings and others that are ranked among the top teams in the United States. The 18U division includes seven teams ranked among the nation’s top. 40.

All of the games can be seen on NAHLTV.

CLICK HERE for the full showcase schedule.

 

Friday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 18U Showcase Matchups

 #32 Seacoast Performance Academy (2), #39 Windy City Storm (1)

#16 CarShield (2), #17 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (1)

#34 Philadelphia Little Flyers (0), #21 Esmark Stars (9)

 

Saturday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 18U Showcase Matchups

#32 Seacoast Performance Academy (3), #16 CarShield(1) 

#17 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (1), #21 Esmark Stars (3)

 #34 Philadelphia Little Flyers (2), #32 Seacoast Performance Academy (4)

 

Sunday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 18U Showcase Matchups

#16 CarShield (5), #21 Esmark Stars (2)

#34 Philadelphia Little Flyers (2), #37 Biggby Coffee (3) - SO

 

Friday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 16U Showcase Matchups

#31 Esmark Stars (8), #89 Biggby Coffee (2)

#18 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (5), #36 CarShield (2)

#31 Esmark Stars (3), #58 Seacoast Performance Academy (2)

 

Saturday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 16U Showcase Matchups

#31 Esmark Stars (5), #88 New Hampshire Mountain Kings (1)

#36 CarShield (7), 38 Seacoast Performance Academy (1)

#76 Philadelphia Little Flyers (5), #89 Biggby Coffee (1)

 

Sunday’s Top NAPHL T1ER 16U Showcase Matchups

#36 CarShield (9), #88 New Hampshire Mountain Kings (2)

#18 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (1), #31 Esmark Stars (2)

 

NAPHL T1ER Top Prospects Tournament

The NAPHL Top Prospects Tournament is scheduled for Feb. 5 and 6 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

CLICK HERE for the Top Prospects rosters.

 

T1ER NAPHL Top Prospects Schedule

 

T1ER NAPHL Top Prospects Schedule & Results

Monday, Feb. 5

T1ER Team Blue 16U (6), T1ER Team White 16U (2)

Trevor Young and Nicholas La Buono each scored twice, with Eli Hahn recroding a goal and two assists, Cooper Rodgers contributing a goal and an assist and Carter Duy dishing out a pair of assists as Team Blue rolled to victory. Jayton Frederick and Rily Berg scored for Team White, while Andrew Bely and Jacob Aranda combined to make 35 saves for the victors. 

 

T1ER Team Blue 18U (4), T1ER Team White 18U (3) - SO

Kyle Sorenssen recorded a hat trick, including the goal that sent the game into overtime with 1:02 left in the third period, but it was not tnough for Team White. Team Blue got goals from Makha Santiago Dame, Drew Spaulding and Connor Jalbert in regulation before earning the shootout victory. 

 

Monday, Feb. 6

T1ER Team White 16U (4), T1ER Team Blue 16U (6)

Team Blue scored four times in the second period and then twice more in the third as part of a six-goal run that put the game away. Alex DeGroat scored the first two goals of the spree, with Trevor Young, Edward Sun, Vitali Ulianov and Emmet McClaine each scoring once. Ulianov, Nicholas La Buono and Matthew Muenz assisted on two of the goals, with McClaine picking up a single assist. Ethan Coots halted the run with a third-period goal then assisted on Ryan Frey's third-period marker. Jayton Frederick assisted on both scores, and Frey picked up an assist on the Coots goal. Andrew Lisnock and Casey Berninger scored first-period goals to give White an early 2-0 lead. Jacob Aranda and Andrew Bely combined to make 31 saves for the winners. 

 

T1ER Team White 18U (5), T1ER Team Blue 18 U (1)

Connor Jalbert scored his second goal of the tournament in the first period to stake Team Blue to a 1-0 lead, but it was all Team White from that point on. White tallied four times in the second period and once in the third to skate off with a 5-1 victory. Jeremy Jacobs scored three of the five goals, with Nicholas Rockey and Kevin Walton each adding single goals. Jacobs also recorded an assist, with Rockey handing out a pair of helpers. Dominic D'Allessandro added a pair of assists for the victors, while Andrew Dubin and Ladon Buterbaugh combined to make 33 saves. 

 

Florida Exposure Cup

The Florida Exposure Cup got underway Thursday in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla. It concludes Sunday and includes more than 50 teams competing at the 13U (’10), 14U and 15O age levels.

The 2010 Division features 28 total teams. The 2010 Elite Division includes 16 teams from the U.S. and Canada broken down into two pools of eight. Fourteen of the top-36 teams in the United States are competing in the 2010 Elite Division, including eight ranked among the top 20. It also includes Ontario’s eighth and 19^th-ranked teams.

Florida Exposure Cup games can be seen on LiveBarn.

 

Friday’s Top Exposure Cup 2010 Games

#8 St. Louis AAA Blues (4), #12 Honeybaked (1)

#19 Ontario Southern Tier Admirals (4), #22 USA Woodbridge Wolfpack (1)

#16 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (3), #14 Dallas Stars Elite (6)

#21 Providence Hockey Club (4), #29 Windy City Storm (2)

#8 Ontario Sun County Panthers (2), #10 USA Fox Motors (4)

#19 Top Gun (0), #18 Phoenix Jr. Coyotes (4)

#12 Honeybaked (6), #14 Dallas Stars Elite (2)

#19 Ontario Southern Tier Admirals (2), #23 USA Milwaukee Jr. Admirals (1)

#16 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (3), #22 Woodbridge Wolfpack (2)

#35 Florida Alliance (2), #8 St. Louis AAA Blues (5)

 

Saturday’s Top Exposure Cup 2010 Games

#18 USA Phoenix Jr. Coyotes (2), #8 Ontario Sun County Panthers (4)

#9 Chicago Mission (10), 21 Providence Hockey Club (4)

#22 Woodbridge Wolfpack (5), #12 Honeybaked (1)

#8 USA St. Louis AAA Blues (3), #8 Ontario Southern Tier Admirals (2)

#29 Windy City Storm (2), #19 Top Gun (4)

#23 Milwaukee Jr. Admirals (3), #16 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (6)

 

Sunday's Exposure Cup 2010 Semfinals

#14 Dallas Stars Elite (4) vs. #9 Chicago Mission (2)

Dallas led, 3-2, after the first period, but from there the game settled down and the Stars scored once in the game's second half to ice the game and advance to the finals. Trevor Sharpe got the win in goal as Dallas scored three-straight first-half goals after Shea Henriksen put the Mission in front early. Carson Janko, Nathan Pavelski and Beckett Ertel tallied during that run for the Stars, and Pavelksi added the insruance marker with 1:32 left in the game. Johnny Rappel had the other Chicago goal. The Mission ended the weekend with a 5-1-0 record after going undefeated in pool play. 

 

#8 St. Louis AAA Blues (3), #21 Providence Hockey Club (0)

The Blues erupted for three second-half goals after a scorless opening frame to move into the title game. Parker Colmer tallied twice in the second half and assisted on Ryan Keeling's goal, while Aiden Cullen earned the shutout in goal. Providence went 4-2-0 during the weekend. 

 

Sunday's Exposure Cup 2010 Championship Game

#8 St. Louis AAA Blues (6), #14 Dallas Stars Elite (5) - OT

Parker Colmer's 10th goal of the tournament – his second of the game and third of the day – on the power play with just 39 seconds left in overtime lifted the Blues to the championship and concluded a wild title game. St. Louis fell beind, 1-0, early on Gavin Hamelin's goal but proceeded to score the next four goals – all in the first half. Nicholas Mueller, Ryan Keeling, Brody Gilbert and Alex Stiehr all scored to push the Blues to a 4-1 lead after the opening half. The Stars answered the bell for the second half, though, scoring three times in the opening 15 minutes to tie the game at 4 only to see Colmer respond with just 2:52 left in regulation to put St. Louis back on top. That wasn't the end, however; Nathan Pavelski buried his second of the game and fourth of the day just 46 second later to force the extra period. Colby Arnold got the win in goal for the Blues, who finished the tournament with a 6-1-0 record. Dallas was 4-2-1. 

 

Florida Exposure Cup 14U

The 14U Division features 16 total teams, including three of Ontario’s top-eight and 10 of the United States’ top-24 teams. They are divided into two eight-team pools.

 

Friday’s Top Exposure Cup 14U Games

#20 Seacoast Performance Academy (1), #7 Florida Alliance North (1)

#7 Ontario Sun County Panthers (7), #39 USA Madison Capitols (1)

#10 Dallas Stars Elite (5), #9 Honeybaked (1)

#14 Chicago Mission (0), #24 Florida Alliance South (1)

#20 USA Seacoast Performance Academy (2), #7 Ontario Sun County Panthers (2)

#2 Mount St. Charles (5), #8 Little Caesars (2)

 #5 USA Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (1), #4 Ontario Toronto Marlboros (6)

 

Saturday’s Top Exposure Cup 14U Games

#10 USA Dallas Stars Elite (4), 7 Ontario Sun County Panthers (2)

#2 USA Mount St. Charles (7), #4 Ontario Toronto Marlies (0)

#20 Seacoast Performance Academy (3), #14 Chicago Mission (2)

#9 USA Honeybaked (0), #8 Ontario Huron-Perth Lakers (3)

#5 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (3), #8 Little Caesars (2)

#39 Madison Capitols (1), #24 Florida Alliance South (1)

 

Sunday's Exposure Cup 14U Semfinals

#11 USA Windy City Storm (2) vs. #8 Ontario Huron-Perth Lakers (3)

These two teams saved up all their goals for the second half, with three-straight tallies by the Lakers during a six-minute span deciding the outcome. Jake Murray, Myles Phillips and Eloan Le Gallic each scored during that run, with Le Gallic and Murray also picking up assists, to send HP to the finals. Sullivan Stark and Aiden Donnelly tallked for Windy City, which finished the weekend 3-1-2. Vaughn Barr was the winning goalie. 

 

#7 Florida Alliance North (1), #2 Mount St. Charles (6)

The second-ranked team in the U.S. rolled into the championship game, seling the deal with four second-half goals. Braiden Scuderi scored two of those markers, his sixth and seventh goals of the tourney, while Max Yakub and Rocco Pelosi also tallked. It was Pelosi's 10th of the weekend. Ari Popovskiy scored for Florida. Owen Kailher and Grady Rowley also scored for MSC, and Nate Chizik earned the win in goal. Florida Alliance finished the weekend 4-2-0. 

 

Sunday's Exposure Cup 14U Championship Game

#2 USA Mount St. Charles (6), #8 Ontario Huron-Perth Lakers (2) 

Mount St. Charles concluded a dominant 7-0-0 weekend by scoring five first-half goals and cruising to the title. HP ended up posting a 5-1-1- mark for the weekend. Eloan Le Gallic, who finished the weekend with six goals, and Benjamin Trebicky scored for the Lakers. Rocco Pelosi led the way for MSC with his 11th and 12th goals of the tournament. He also assisted on Max Yakub's second-half tally. Owen Kailher, Colton Sommer and Junior Gualberto also scored for MSC, while Nate Chizik earned the win in goal. Mount St. Charles outscored its seven opponents by a 41-7 margin. 

 

Florida Explsure Cup 15O

The 15O Division of the Florida Exposure Cup includes six of the top-28 teams in the United States, according to the latest MYHockey rankings. There are eight total teams competing at this age level.

 

Friday’s Top Exposure Cup 15O Games

#21 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (9), #25 Dallas Stars Elite (1)

#2 Mount St. Charles (1), #10 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (5)

#2 Mount St. Charles (4), #21 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (2)

#25 Dallas Stars Elite (2), #10 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (6)

#23 Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (2), #28 Team Illinois (2)

 

Saturday’s Top Exposure Cup 15O Games

#23 Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (1), #2 Mount St. Charles (6)

 #28 Team Illinois (3), #25 Dallas Stars Elite (1)

#21 Oakland Jr. Grizzlies (1), #10 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (8)

 

Sunday’s Top Exposure Cup 15O Games

#2 Mount St. Charles (4), #28 Team Illinois (1)

#21 Carolina Jr. Hurricanes (1), #10 Mid-Fairfield Jr. Rangers (5)