By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., June 16, 2015 — The Great Falls Americans Junior A Hockey team received some great talented athletes at the 2015 NA3HL Entry Draft on Tuesday night.
The 8-round draft was conducted live on na3hldraft.com with all 34 North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) teams taking part in the amateur draft with each team selecting once per round unless the team acquired or lost selections due to approved trades with other NA3HL clubs. Amateur players who are younger than 21 before the end of December 2015 who are either not listed on a NA3HL roster or who are listed on a roster but played in less than 10 regular season or playoff games during this past season were eligible to have been selected. The players also must have not accepted a tender from any of the NA3HL clubs before the 2015 NA3HL Draft.
The new NA3HL clubs, including the (Rochester (MN) Ice Hawks, Wooster (OH) Oilers, Evansville (IN) Thunderbolts, Atlanta Capitals and the Louisiana Drillers), had their order of selection determined by a lottery. The other teams in the league made selections in reverse order from their 2014-15 regular season finish based on their winning percentage. Undrafted players are still able to participate and are encouraged to come to open tryout camps. There were a total of 372 players that were selected during the draft this year.
The NA3HL, entering their sixth season in 2015-16, is one of USA Hockey’s top sanctioned Tier III Junior hockey leagues and helps train young athletes by having the best coaching, exposure and developmental vehicles available in the country.
Great Falls selected Jake Eubank, a forward from Pikes Peak U18 team with the 28th overall selection in the first round. Forwards Tanner Congdon and Alex Grollman both played together on the KC Mavs U18 team were selected in the second and fifth round, respectively. Steven Goran, who played for the 2013-14 Great Falls Americans squad, was selected in the sixth round (No. 199). The forward from Thompson, Manitoba played 43 games for Great Falls while picking up 17 goals and dishing out16 assists during his lone season with the Americans.
In last year’s draft, the Americans drafted Miles Giorgione in the first round with the 28th overall selection. Goaltender Lauren Massie also saw action for Great Falls with his eighth round selection.
Click here to view the full results of the 2015 NA3HL Entry Draft.
The 2015-16 Americans draft selections are posted below.
| Rd. | Overall Pick | Player | Pos. | Previous Team | Pick Acquired From |
| 1 | 31 | Jake Eubank | F | Pikes Peak U18 | — |
| 2 | 65 | Tanner Congdon | F | KC Mavs U18 | — |
| 3 | 99 | Olaf Jensen | F | Compete
Hockey Academy |
— |
| 4 | 113 | Curtis Foster | D | Alaska Jr. Avalanche U18 | Bozeman Ice Dogs |
| 4 | 132 | Jeffrey Sunguedolce | F | LA Jr. Kings U18 | — |
| 5 | 165 | Alec Grollman | F | KC Mavs U18 | — |
| 6 | 199 | Steven Goran | F | Great Falls Americans (AWHL: 2013-14) | — |
| 7 | 231 | Ben Barton | D | Mount Hermon School | — |