Gillette, Helena clinch NA3HL playoff berths; Bighorns stretch win streak to ten

Here is a snapshot of the Frontier Division from Jan. 20-21:

BUTTE COBRAS 4 GREAT FALLS AMERICANS 3 (OT): Caelin Chinery and Patrick Crooks each scored two goals, with Crooks scoring his second 1:41 into overtime for the Cobras’ win.

Chinery’s two goals came at the 5:30 and 8:18 marks of the first period, the second one shorthanded and unassisted.

Baden Powell and Silas Hughes scored 70 seconds apart to tie the game at 2-2 with 7:29 left in the first period.

Alex Leaf’s power play goal with 11:20 left in the second period gave the Americans a 3-2 lead.

Just over four minutes later, Crooks’ power play goal tied the game at 3-3.

Both teams were held off the scoresheet in the third to force overtime.

Chinery and Cade Wessman assisted on Crooks’ game-winner with 3:19 left in overtime.

Braylon Rogers had 16 saves on 19 shots for the Cobras before giving way to Nikolai Wallery to start the third period. Wallery stopped all nine shots and earned the win in goal.

Ryan Stowe made 41 saves for Great Falls.

GILLETTE WILD 4 BADLANDS SABRES 1. Ryan Hipsag scored twice, once on the power play and the other into an empty net, as the Wild upended the Sabres by three goals.

The first half of the game went scoreless until Hipsag’s power play goal with 7:53 to go in the second period.

Badlands’ forward Brady Ridnour tied the game with a goal 3:33 into the third period.

Alec Waller scored the go-ahead goal for the Wild with 11:21 left in the game. Wylee Gladen gave Gillette an insurance goal 73 seconds later, and Hipsag’s empty-netter with 2:07 to go capped the scoring.

The Wild went 1-of-5 on the power play and killed off six penalties.

HELENA BIGHORNS 4 YELLOWSTONE QUAKE 2. The Bighorns stretched their win streak to nine on Friday night, as fought off a third-period rally by Yellowstone.

The Bighorns established a 2-0 lead, with Andrew Deskin’s goal at the 9:46 mark of the first period and Tyler Bloom’s goal with 9:09 left in the second.

Nick Cofer got the Quake on the scoreboard 1:41 into the third period.

Ty Moore restored Helena’s two-goal lead with a goal with 7:34 to play in regulation.

Blake Mitchell’s power play goal split the margin to a goal with 1:38 to go.

Camden Cunningham’s shorthanded, empty net goal with 38 seconds to play secured the win for the Bighorns.

Keaton Woolsey won his third start in net for Helena, having stopped 16 of 18 shots.

John Hughes made 45 saves for Yellowstone.

On Saturday night:

GILLETTE WILD 5 BADLANDS SABRES 1. The Wild locked up a Fraser Cup Playoff spot by scoring five straight goals to coast past the Sabres.

Jace Johnson (16:25, power play) and Zack Slinger (18:01) helped the Wild out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Adam Severson (1:35) and Ryan Hipsag (8:57) aided in doubling the Wild lead to 4-0 in the second.

Wylee Gladen’s power play goal with 9:02 left in the game pushed Gillette’s lead out to five.

Payton Stauffacher, in his fourth game for the Sabres, broke up the shutout with a power play goal with 7:46 to play.

The Wild scored twice on the power play, with Badlands having scored once with the man advantage.

Cole Wheaton stopped 26-of-27 shots for the Wild.

Brady Devries stopped 28 shots before Zach Broxterman took over in goal with 11:03 to go. Broxterman made 30 saves.

HELENA BIGHORNS 3 YELLOWSTONE QUAKE 1. The Bighorns extended their winning streak to ten games and punched their ticket to the Fraser Cup Playoffs with a two-goal win over Yellowstone.

Camden Cunningham scored a power play goal 2:34 into the second period, and Andrew Deskin added a goal 6:17 into the third stanza.

Ben Carlson’s goal with 7:55 to play accounted for the Quake’s lone goal of the game.

Keaton Woolsey faced 20 shots and steered aside 19 for his fourth straight start in net for Helena.

John Hughes made 45 saves for Yellowstone.

BOZEMAN ICEDOGS 2 GREAT FALLS AMERICANS 1. Spencer Wilkinson’s power play goal with 6:43 to play in the third period lifted the Icedogs over the Americans.

Kole Morris put Bozeman on top in the second period with a goal with 4:23 to play.

Jace Thompson’s power play goal with 12:58 left in the third period tied the game at 1-1.

Casey Sturm assisted on Wilkinson’s power play goal with under seven minutes to play was the game-winner.

Axel Rosenlund stopped 43-of-44 shots for the Icedogs.

Ryan Stowe steered aside 38 shots for the Americans.

Frontier Division standings (as of Jan. 23, 2023)

Two points for wins, one point for overtime and shootout losses

Place, Team, W-L-OTL-SOL-Points

1. Gillette 29-5-1-1, 61 points

2. Helena 28-7-1-1, 58 points

3. Sheridan 19-14-2-0, 40 points

4. Butte 18-15-1-1, 38 points

5. Bozeman 15-19-0-1, 31 points

6. Great Falls 14-19-2-0, 30 points

7. Yellowstone 11-20-4-2, 28 points

8. Badlands 10-21-2-2, 24 points

Home records

Two points for wins, one point for overtime and shootout losses

Place, Team, W-L-OTL-SOL-Points

1. Gillette 15-1-0-1, 31 points

2. Helena 14-2-1-0, 29 points

3. Sheridan 10-6-2-0, 22 points

4. Bozeman 10-10-0-0, 20 points

5. Butte 9-4-0-0, 18 points

6. Great Falls 9-12-0-0, 18 points

7. Yellowstone 8-9-1-1, 18 points

8. Badlands 8-12-0-0, 16 points

Road records

Two points for wins, one point for overtime and shootout losses

Place, Team, W-L-OTL-SOL-Points

1. Gillette 14-4-1-1, 30 points

2. Helena 14-5-0-1, 29 points

3. Butte 9-11-1-1, 20 points

4. Sheridan 9-8-0-0, 18 points

5. Great Falls 5-7-2-0, 12 points

6. Bozeman 5-9-0-1, 11 points

7. Yellowstone 3-11-3-1, 10 points

8. Badlands 2-9-2-2, 8 points

Special Teams Effectiveness

Here are the Frontier Division's STE numbers, which 100% representing a reasonable rate and anything above 105% as a good percentage:

Gillette 120.3 (34.2% PP, 86.1% PK)

Helena 105.3 (16.9% PP, 88.4% PK)

Sheridan 101.8 (26.8% PP, 75.0% PK)

Great Falls 95.3 (21.4% PP, 73.9% PK)

Butte 94.9 (20.2% PP, 74.7% PK)

Yellowstone 92.5 (16.6% PP, 78.9% PK)

Bozeman 89.7 (11.0%, 78.7% PK)

Badlands 83.1 (13.5% PP, 69.6% PK)

Frontier Division players in NA3HL top ten

Points: Sheridan's Ryan McKenna (third, 63), Gillette’s Jace Johnson (fourth, 58), Gillette's Isaac Young (fifth, 57), Gillette's Sky Solig (tied for tenth, 50), and Butte's Nick Bradshaw (tied for tenth, 50).

Goals: Johnson (second, 30), McKenna (third, 28), Sheridan’s Makhai Sparks (sixth, 25), Solig (tied for eighth, 24), Bradshaw (tied for eighth, 24).

Power-play goals: Johnson (first, 15), Sparks (tied for fourth, ten), Young (tied for fourth, ten), McKenna (tied for ninth, eight), Butte’s Patrick Crooks (tied for ninth, eight).

Assists: Young (second, 40), Gillette’s Saizha Norwegian (fourth, 36), McKenna (fifth, 35), Butte's Cade Wessman (seventh, 32), Sheridan’s Parker Norling (tied for eighth, 31).

Power-play assists: Young (second, 19), Foster (tied for tenth, 14), Gillette's Alec Waller (tied for tenth, 15).

Penalty minutes (PIM): Bloom (seventh, 144).

Frontier Division goaltenders in the NA3HL top ten

Wins: Butte's Caleb Cross (tied for fourth, 13).

Losses: Badlands' Zach Broxterman (tied for first, 16), Milewski (eighth, 11), Koziol (tied for ninth, nine).

Saves: Broxterman (third, 1,247), Cross (fourth, 1,012), Milewski (fifth, 1,000), Broxterman (fifth, 942), Koziol (sixth, 913), Falkenstrom (tenth, 717).

Goals allowed: Broxterman (third, 91).

Goals allowed average (GAA): Andres (second, 1.64), Gillette’s Jake Turek (sixth, 1.94).

Save percentage: Andres (first, .946), Cross (third, .939), Milewski (fourth, .938), Turek (tied for seventh, .933), Koziol (tied for seventh, .933), Yellowstone’s Edvin Falkenstrom (tied for ninth, .932).

Minutes played: Broxterman (fourth, 1,326), Cross (fifth, 1,314), Milewski (seventh, 1,232).

Helena’s ten-game win streak

The Bighorns have been the hottest team in the league the past month.

Since back-to-back losses to Butte and Oregon (at the NA3HL Showcase) in December, Helena has won 10 consecutive games, having scored 40 goals and surrendered nine.

After a start by Gabe Swanson that anchored an already stout defense, Marek Andres, Jesse Schindel, and Keaton Woolsey have combined for the ten wins. With three shutouts and no games over two goals surrendered, the team’s goals allowed average (GAA) is 0.90 during the streak. The Bighorns’ GAA has shrunk from 1.91 to 1.69, the best in the best in the NA3HL.

While the Bighorns’ backstoppers have been clutch in goal, the offense has produced four goals per game on average. Tyler Bloom (21-22-43), Harlan Wojtusik (21-17-38), Camden Cunningham (14-19-33), Braden Cunningham (12-20-32), Dylan Cunningham (2-24-26), Andrew Deskin (17-8-25), and TJ Norris (9-16-25) have been regular contributors to the Helena offense this season.

The Fraser Cup Playoffs push

Teams in the NA3HL have begun to clinch their spots in the Fraser Cup Playoffs, which will begin in mid-March.

Gillette (second overall, 61 points) and Helena (third overall, 58 points) have already clinched spots in the Frontier Division. Four other teams have punched their tickets: Northeast (62 points), Granite City (57), Oregon (52), and Rochester (52).

In the overall standings, Sheridan sits tied for 17th with Atlanta (41 points), Butte is in 19th place with 38 points, Bozeman sits in 24th place with 31 points, Great Falls is tied in 26th place with Willmar with 30 points, Yellowstone is in 27th place with 28 points, and Badlands is in 29th place with 24 points.

In 2021-2022, the top 22 teams made the playoffs, with the Frontier Division point cut-off line of 40 (Butte).

2023 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament

The NA3HL announced the rosters for the 2023 Top Prospects Tournament that will be held on Monday and Tuedsay, Feb. 6-7 in the UPMC Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Penn.

The TPT is held in conjunction with the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) Top Prospects Tournament. It is one of the most highly scouted events in the junior hockey ranks.

Standings in the NA3HL were frozen on Sunday, Jan. 8, and the teams were seeded based on win percentage. The number of players being sent to the event was based on each team’s winning percentage.

Here are the coaches and players selected for the Frontier Division team:

Coaches: Ethan Hayes (Gillette), Scott Cunningham (Helena)

Players: Gillette (Sky Solig, Josef Lalli, Alec Walker, Saizha Norwegian, and Anthony Foster), Helena (Dylan Cunningham, Tyler Bloom, Harlan Wojtusik, and Tyler Aldridge), Sheridan (McCaffery Billings, Parker Norling, and Ryan McKenna), Bozeman (Cam Milewski and Cole Busher), Butte (Nick Bradshaw and Caleb Cross), Great Falls (Alex Leaf and Silas Hughes), Badlands (Hunter Walla), and Yellowstone (Brayson Bennett).

The Frontier team will play the Central Division TPT team on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m., and play the South Division at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

The week ahead in the Frontier

Butte continues its home stand with a weekend series against division-leader Gillette, with Friday and Saturday games at 7:30 p.m. at the Butte Community Ice Center.

Bozeman hosts Yellowstone in a weekend series at the Haynes Pavilion, with 7:30 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday.

Helena hosts Great Falls in a pair of weekend games at Helena Ice Arena with 7:05 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday.

Badlands will host the Sheridan Hawks in a weekend series at the Roosevelt Park Ice Arena in Rapid City, S.D., with 7:05 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday.