The North American Hockey League (NAHL) announced today the rosters for its Top Prospects Tournament which will be held February 27 – 28 at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, MI. Six Aston Rebels have been selected to play in this tournament: Drew Blackmun, Dom Garcia, Gvido Jansons, Jack Leavy, Andrew Noel and Evgeny Yakovlev. As previously announced, head coach Joe Coombs will the head coach for the East Division.
Blackmun, Garcia, Leavy, Noel and Yakovlev will play for the East Division while Jansons will play NAHL Selects team.
Blackmun (12 goals and 23 assists) and Jansons (16 goals and 19 assists) each have 35 points on the season. Garcia is second on the Rebels in points with 36 (10 goals and 26 assists) whereas Yakovlev is seventh in points with 30 (10 goals and 20 assists). Noel, a stay at home defenseman, has four points (1 goal and 3 assists). Leavy has a 2.19 goals against average and a .912 save percentage with three shutouts.
The number of players each NAHL team can to send to the tournament, in which four teams from the four NAHL divisions: Central, East, Midwest and South and a special fifth NAHL Selects team, will each play in two game games, is based on each team’s winning percentage within their group as of February 5, 2017.
Only those NAHL players without an NCAA commitment at the time of selection are eligible to participate in the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, with the exception of those who will be playing on the NAHL Selects team, or those that have been identified as a player of interest by NHL Central Scouting. Each of the teams consists of a 20-man roster (12 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goaltenders).
2017 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament Schedule (subject to change, all times eastern):
Monday, February 27th
1:00pm: Central Division vs. Midwest Division
4:00pm: East Division vs. NAHL Selects
7:00pm: South Division vs. USNTDP
Tuesday, February 28th
11:00am: Midwest Division vs. East Division
2:00pm: Central Division vs. South Division
5:00pm: NAHL Selects vs. USNTDP
