BLAINE, Minn. — Riley Mullen skated onto the ice at the NAHL Showcase on Wednesday to start his third season with the Kenai River Brown Bears. 

The defenseman from the Philadelphia area learned a lot as a rookie in 2023-24 in the NAHL and knows the vital experience gained by playing in the league

“It definitely will prepare you to be a pro, whether it’s hockey or out of life,” Mullen said. “You definitely become a mature man.

“You learn a lot about yourself in these three years, or two years, outside of high school and not in college. It’s a good opportunity.”

Like most players in the NAHL, Mullen’s goal is to receive a college commitment and advance to the next level beyond the junior league. Mullen and the Kenai River Brown Bears joined the rest of the league’s teams for the 22nd annual NAHL Showcase, taking place Wednesday-Saturday at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota.

The NAHL outperforms every other league when it comes to players coming in without a college commitment and then earning one during their time in the league.

“That is one of our number one, core badge of honor, DNA of who we are,” said Mark Frankenfeld, NAHL commissioner and president.

When players suit up for the NAHL, they can expect three components over the course of their junior hockey career — to develop, to get exposure and to receive advancement at some point, Frankenfeld said.

Part of the league’s job, Frankenfeld added, is to not only facilitate its operations but also put events together like the NAHL Showcase, to make them attractive to scouts at every level, from collegiate to professional. Frankenfeld refers to the Showcase as “the Super Bowl of showcases except it’s in the beginning of the year.”

“Bringing all these eyes into one place at the showcase is kind of like that early identifier,” he said. “Now, there’ll be some commitments, but this is more about getting players on the track to be followed and evaluated over the course of time.”

The exposure players receive from the Showcase and in the NAHL in general is a major plus to help with the goal of reaching college hockey. Mullen said the competitiveness of the NAHL “is honestly like no other.”

“A lot of the other leagues out there are known for their skill and fancy plays,” Mullen added. “But our league definitely exemplifies a good team-hockey brand.”

Perhaps part of that brand is playing hockey the right way, which is top of mind for North Iowa Bulls head coach Nick Bruneteau when it comes to what the NAHL does well. To him, playing the right way means “defensive-minded hockey and not cheating the game.”

The league also excels at providing players and teams with necessary resources to help develop their games. That includes a lot of technological pieces like individual/team video, skills sessions and weight programs, to name a few.

“That’s stuff that is, from a player perspective, is what you want and what you crave,” Bruneteau said. “Every single team has something in place where these players can succeed and move on to the next level.”

North Iowa Bulls assistant coach AJ Ruskowski, who previously played parts of two seasons with the Minot Minotauros, pointed to the schedule as a factor in setting up players for success at the future collegiate level. They have practices Monday through Thursday with games on weekends, just like in college.

North Iowa also provides individual skill sessions with the forward, defensemen and goaltender groups, along with individual and team video analysis sessions to help them along the way, too, to help them look at their shifts.

“We want the players to take charge in that and making sure that they’re the ones wanting those benefits and wanting that experience,” Ruskowski said. “That’s a really big plus. I know a lot of other teams are doing that as well.”

Playing in the NAHL also gives players a chance to see what life is like away from home, traveling to new places and becoming more responsible for themselves. North Iowa defenseman Brody Dietz, starting his second season in the league, said that living on his own and learning more responsibility is a huge part of the NAHL.

Hockey-wise, the NAHL is a hard league to play in, but it also offers more ice availability with more practices and a grueling 58-game season. The repetition of playing helped Dietz see improvement and development with his game last year. Dietz, who’s also hoping to land a college commitment, encourages younger hockey players to consider the NAHL, too.

“If you want to take some big steps in your hockey career and you want to obviously play at the next level, the NAHL would be a fantastic place to start,” he said.

Beyond the ice, the NAHL helps prepare players to become immersed in their communities. For example, teams have programs where players sign autographs or read to school children. That’s all part of the development of players, going beyond hockey but also doing things to develop themselves as people off the ice, Frankenfeld said.

“We want them to be core, solid citizens,” Frankenfeld said. “That development aspect of our players, preparing to come in and moving from being boys to young men, that’s part of that process off the ice.”

Bruneteau encourages his players to make sure they’re out and about in the community on a weekly basis.

“That teaches them, A., a maturity and seeing how not just hockey operates, but how you have to operate in the community, how you have to be in cohesion with everybody else,” Bruneteau said.

He added that an increase in personal connections over the past decade has also benefitted players. There are more one-on-one meetings with players focused on topics beyond hockey, including parents, how players are doing, dealing with homesickness or other issues. 

NAHL teams also provide academic support for players, which is important for players to have more potential college options. At the end of the day, the NAHL’s goal is for players to go on to play college hockey.

“We love guys that make it into the professional hockey and the NHL and have long-term careers,” Frankenfeld said. “But that, to us, is some decoration on a beautifully iced cake. To us, the icing on the cake is a college hockey player.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

(Photo Credit: Christian Larson)