As we trudge further into October we get closer and closer to junior hockey being back in full swing. Preseason is officially upon us and the NAHL, EHL, and NA3HL have all begun regular season play. It’s worth noting that the NA3HL opened their season this past weekend.
NAHL Has Big Opening Weekend
Hockey and the NAHL have been synonymous since 1974, when the NAHL was first started. It’s the oldest and largest junior hockey league in the United States and is one of the largest college producing talent powerhouses in junior hockey. There were 361 NCAA commitments last year with 249 of them being Division 1 commitments.
There were 10 games last weekend and hopefully all things are quiet on the COVID front.
NHL Draft Recap
The NHL Draft took place October 6 and went about as according to script as many teams hoped. For the USHL, the draft was a tremendous success for their league. 51 players were selected which is the third highest total in league history.
All 16 USHL teams had at least one player selected and of the 51 players selected, all but seven NHL teams received a USHL player. Jake Sanderson from the NTDP was the highest USHL player selected as he was selected fifth overall by the Ottawa Senators. Brendan Brisson from the Chicago Steel was the next highest player selected who went 29th overall to the Vegas Golden Knights. See a list of all drafted USHL players here.
QMJHL Has 18 Players
Positive w/ COVID-19
The QMJHL reported that 18 team members have tested positive for COVID-19 and will be in isolation for the next 14 days. Other teams in the league will continue their operations as the regular season started Friday, October 2.
Continue to check back each week and be sure to listen to The Junior Hockey Podcast for all your junior hockey news. Be sure to follow The Junior Hockey Podcast (@JRHockeyPodcast) on Twitter along with me, @Nwinansw. We’ll see you next week.
