By Kevin Scott
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Team White vs. Team Blue |
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Team Yellow vs. Team Black |
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PLYMOUTH, MI., February 18, 2025 — The final day of the 2025 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament (TPT) in Plymouth, Michigan occurred on Tuesday where four teams squared off in the ‘all-star’ like tournament.
The NA3HL’s annual tournament highlights the best hockey talent the league has to offer as the players get to display their skills in front of coaches and scouts from the North American Hockey League (NAHL), the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and the NCAA college levels.
The four TPT Teams (Team Yellow, Team Black, Team Blue and Team White) played on Monday morning where Team Yellow easily defeated 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’ Ty O’Bey and Kaden Rhyder both participated in Monday’s contest.
O’Bey did not have any goals or assists but Rhyder gathered 15 saves in 28 minutes for Team Blue. Click here for the game summary from those contests. In the other contest, Team White pulled away from Team Black, 6-4.
Each squad played once on Saturday and Sunday. The teams consisted of 20 players (12 forwards, 6 defensemen and two goalies). Players considered for this prestigious event had to be nominated by their respective coaches.
Click here for the full two-day tournament schedule and results.
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 Chadwick 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.
Click here for the Americans press release with full rosters and schedule for each team.
Seven players scored in Team Yellow’s 7-3 victory over Team Black
Seven different players put the puck in the net for Team Yellow’s 7-3 win over Team Black on the final day of competition at the 2025 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament in Michigan on Tuesday.
Brody Neish (Louisiana Drillers), Joseph Gutierrez (El Paso Rhinos) and Roman Vitolo (Louisiana Drillers) all scored in the first stanza to give Team Yellow a 3-0 advantage after the first twenty minutes. Dontae Hunziker (New Mexico Ice Wolves/Gillette Wild) and Donovan Bradford (El Paso Rhinos) each added first period assists.
The first five minutes of the middle period saw both squads scored two goals apiece. Charles Blake (Texas RoadRunners) and Dantae Hunziker added two goals for Team Yellow before Team Black got on the scoreboard. Ashton Collings and Caleb Waller (both from the Alexandria Blizzard) scored the first of his two second period goals in the stanza. Nathan Hinze (Willmar WarHawks) and Louisiana Drillers standout Jake Bergstrom set up Blake’s score while Roman Vitolo earned the helper on Hunziker’s scoring drive. Team Black’s Caleb Waller’s second goal with 56 seconds left before the second intermission made the score 5-3.
Team Yellow pulled away for good as Ashton Morin (Austin Ice Bats) and Issa Murakami (New Mexico Ice Wolves) received goals to give their team the victory. Brody Neish, Jake Bergstrom, and Jake Malzone assisted.
Team Yellow outshot Team Black, 26-20.
Robert Pogosyan (Atlanta Capitals) and Gavin Morris (Austin Ice Bats) each handled the goaltending duties for Team Yellow and combined for 17 saves. Charlie Donoghue (New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings) finished with 19 saves for Team Black in the setback.
Team Blue downs Team White, 7-4
Team Blue’s Weston Villers (Butte Irish), Helena Bighorns standouts Chase Berg and Kelton Chadwick, Max Arlt (Gillette Wild), Ryan Jordan (Badlands Sabres), Spencer Wilkinson (Bozeman Ice Dogs) and Reid Watson (Minnesota Moose) all got successful scoring drives to help Team White win on Tuesday morning.
Team Blue and Team White combined for just 13 shots-on-goal in the first period with Team Blue edging Team White, 2-1. Connor Dvorak (Wausau Cyclones) scored off a pass from Jackson Hoem (West Bend Power) to get the scoring going midway through the period. The Butte Irish connection of Weston Villers from Loghan Weber gave Team Blue their first score of the contest late in the stanza. Chase Berg scored the other goal for Team Blue with Reid Watson and Max Arlt making the assists.
In the middle period, Team Blue scored three goals to increase their lead to 5-1. Max Arlt scored off a pass from Ryan Jordan, and then Kelton Chadwick put the puck in the net off a pass from Vincent Leaf of the Sheridan Hawks. Before the period concluded, Ryan Jordan with help from Max Arlt and Sam Knight (Minnesota Moose) scored the team’s fifth goal.
In the final frame, Jake Garrow (Wausau Cyclones), Noah Joyce (Rochester Grizzlies) and Thomas Gerum (Wausau Cyclones) put the biscuit in the basket for Team White. Easton Portner (Granite City Lumberjacks) and Brayden Davis (St. Louis Jr. Blues) helped Garrow get his third period goal while Justin Funk (Wisconsin Woodsmen) and Trace Shumlas (West Bend Power) chipped in assists on Joyce’s goal. Reid Watson and Spencer Wilkinson had lamplighters for Team Blue. Loghan Weber helped with Wilkinson’s score.
Team Blue had 11 of their 25 shots occur in the middle period. Team White made 20 saves.
Great Falls Americans goalie Kaden Rhyder (seven saves) and Dylan Posch of the Minnesota Moose (nine saves) led Team Blue. Nick Hanson (Granite City Lumberjacks) and Tanner Bonjernoor (Wausau Cyclones) combined for 18 saves in the loss for Team White.
To view more information about the 2025 Top Prospects Tournament, please visit the tournament webpage: http://na3hl.com/tpt/