2013–14 NAHL season

The 2013–14 NAHL season was the 30th season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2013 to April 2014 with a 60-game schedule for each team. The Fairbanks Ice Dogs won the regular season championship and went on to defeat the Austin Bruins 2 games to 0 in the championship round to capture the Robertson Cup.

2013–14 NAHL season
League	North American Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	Regular season September 13, 2013 – March 30, 2014 Post-season April 3 – May 10, 2014
Number of games	60
Number of teams	24
Regular season
Season champions	Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Season MVP	Alec Butcher (Kenai River Brown Bears)
Top scorer	Alec Butcher (Kenai River Brown Bears)
Robertson Cup Playoffs
Finals champions	Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Runners-up	Austin Bruins

Member changes

• In July, 2012, the NAHL received an application for a new franchise in Laredo, Texas.^[1] After receiving approval, the prospective club planned on being active by the start of this season. However, the club never materialized.

• In December 2012, The dormant New Mexico Mustangs franchise was purchased by the Minnesota Junior Hockey Group.^[2] The club was moved to Richfield, Minnesota and became the Minnesota Magicians.

• On January 19, 2013, USA Hockey approved the transfer of the Wenatchee Wild from the NAHL to the British Columbia Hockey League for the 2013–14 season.^[3] However, on May 14, 2013, the Wild announced they would instead relocate the franchise to Hidalgo, Texas and play as the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the NAHL.^[4] Eight days later, the Wenatchee City Council approved a deal to purchase the Fresno Monsters franchise and relocate it to Wenatchee, assuming the Wild's name.^[5]

• In mid-February, the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings announced that they would be folding at the end of the season.^[6] The team attempted to sell the franchise rights but ended up dissolving when no prospective buyer surfaced.

• On May 10, 2013, the Minnesota Wilderness, an active junior team from the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL), were granted permission to join the NAHL.^[7] As part the arrangement, the team purchased the franchise rights from the dormant St. Louis Bandits who had last played in 2012.

• Around the same time, the Jamestown Ironmen decided to suspend operations and released all of their players from their contracts.^[8]

• In July, the Texas Tornado was sold to Texas Hockey Partners (THP). The franchise was relocated to North Richland Hills, Texas and became the Lone Star Brahmas.^[9]

Regular season

The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:^[10]

Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title

Standings

Central Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
xy – Austin Bruins	60	40	19	1	81	189	155
x – Aberdeen Wings	60	38	18	4	80	183	140
x – Bismarck Bobcats	60	31	24	5	67	176	157
x – Minot Minotauros	60	24	33	3	51	130	165
Brookings Blizzard	60	18	34	8	44	132	206

Midwest Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
xyz – Fairbanks Ice Dogs	60	45	14	1	91	215	136
x – Minnesota Wilderness	60	37	14	9	83	159	115
x – Wenatchee Wild	60	29	23	8	66	169	163
x – Kenai River Brown Bears	60	28	24	8	64	164	178
Coulee Region Chill	60	31	28	1	63	181	181
Minnesota Magicians	60	21	31	8	50	143	193

North Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
xy – Port Huron Fighting Falcons	60	35	15	10	80	187	151
x – Michigan Warriors	60	30	20	10	70	178	173
x – Janesville Jets	60	32	24	4	68	171	174
x – Johnstown Tomahawks	60	28	27	5	61	167	181
Springfield Jr. Blues	60	26	26	8	60	141	160
Soo Eagles	60	25	27	8	58	149	187

South Division

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
xy – Amarillo Bulls	60	40	14	6	86	207	120
x – Topeka RoadRunners	60	39	15	6	84	180	122
x – Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees	60	35	18	7	77	150	121
x – Wichita Falls Wildcats	60	31	25	4	66	170	157
Lone Star Brahmas	60	23	33	4	50	136	204
Corpus Christi IceRays	60	19	31	10	48	124	178
Odessa Jackalopes	60	15	40	5	35	123	217

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. ^[11]

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Alec Butcher	Kenai River Brown Bears	60	24	42	66	70
Jay Dickman	Austin Bruins	59	28	36	64	68
Mike Davis	Amarillo Bulls	60	28	35	63	125
Tyler Poulsen	Topeka RoadRunners	56	29	32	61	44
Jake Kamrass	Topeka RoadRunners	60	24	35	59	59
Tayler Munson	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	56	24	34	58	33
T. J. Roo	Amarillo Bulls	56	22	32	54	26
Tyler Gernhofer	Aberdeen Wings	55	31	22	53	50
Troy Loggins	Wenatchee Wild	60	23	30	53	45
Michael Louria	Janesville/Minot	53	26	26	52	30

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	OTL	SOL	SO	GA	SV	SV%	GAA
Kasimir Kaskisuo	Minnesota Wilderness	32	1951:24	21	6	1	4	9	48	814	.944	1.48
P. J. Bridges	Topeka RoadRunners	36	2101:14	26	5	1	2	10	54	851	.940	1.54
Collin Delia	Amarillo Bulls	31	1722:58	22	7	0	0	7	45	683	.937	1.57
Nick Schmit	Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees	30	1556:32	17	9	0	1	6	43	538	.926	1.66
Nick Lehr	Austin Bruins	49	2927:13	35	13	0	1	6	90	1,231	.932	1.85

Robertson Cup playoffs

Teams are reseeded prior to the semifinal round based upon regular season records.

	Division Semifinals (Best-of-5)									Division Finals (Best-of-5)									Semifinal (Best-of-3)							Championship (Best-of-3)
	C1	Austin Bruins	6	2	2	4***	-
	C4	Minot Minotauros	8	1	1	3	-
										C1	Austin Bruins	5*	1	0	4	2
	Central Division
										C3	Bismarck Bobcats	4	2*	4	3	1
	C2	Aberdeen Wings	2	1	0	-	-
	C3	Bismarck Bobcats	4	5	5	-	-
																			1	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	3	3	-
																			4	Michigan Warriors	1	0	-
	MW1	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	3	2	5	3	3*
	MW4	Kenai River Brown Bears	0	3*	2	4	2
										MW1	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	0	4	2	2	3*
	Midwest Division
										MW3	Wenatchee Wild	4	2	0	3***	2
	MW2	Minnesota Wilderness	0	3	4	4	0
	MW3	Wenatchee Wild	3	4	0	2	1*
																										1	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	5*	6	-
																										2	Austin Bruins	4	2	-
	N1	Port Huron Fighting Falcons	3	4*	4	-	-
	N4	Johnstown Tomahawks	2	3	3	-	-
										N1	Port Huron Fighting Falcons	0	0	2	0	-
	North Division
										N2	Michigan Warriors	1***	3	1	4	-
	N2	Michigan Warriors	4	5	3	-	-
	N3	Janesville Jets	2	1	2	-	-
																			2	Austin Bruins	5	6	4*
																			3	Topeka RoadRunners	7	4	3
	S1	Amarillo Bulls	4	7	3	-	-
	S4	Wichita Falls Wildcats	2	4	2	-	-
										S1	Amarillo Bulls	2	1	3*	5	2
	South Division
										S2	Topeka RoadRunners	3	3	2	2	6
	S2	Topeka RoadRunners	3	2*	3*	-	-
	S3	Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees	1	1	2	-	-

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Division Semifinals

Central Division

(C1) Austin Bruins vs. (C4) Minot Minotauros

April 4	Austin Bruins		6 – 8		Minot Minotauros	Riverside Arena
2:41 - Guillaume Leclerc (1) 5:35 - Niko Hildenbrand (1) 7:18 - sh - Luke Dietsch (1)		First period			Jake McCann (1) Michael Louria (1) - pp Michael Louria (2) - 15:27 Jadin Martin (1) - 16:09
0:26 - Jake Arroyo (1) 9:15 - Luke Dietsch (2)		Second period			Scott Dornbrock (1) - 5:59 Tim Donohue (1) - pp - 19:43
2:05 - sh - Luke Dietsch (3)		Third period			Jacob Howie (1) - 4:03 Tim Donohue (2) - 19:20
Nick Lehr (18 saves / 26 shots)		Goalie stats			Brandon Wildung (4 saves / 7 shots) Merrick Madsen (29 saves / 32 shots)

April 5	Austin Bruins		2 – 1		Minot Minotauros	Riverside Arena
1:17 - Drew Anderson (1)		First period			Jake McCann (2) - 16:54
17:37 - Jay Dickman (1)		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Nick Lehr (13 saves / 14 shots)		Goalie stats			Merrick Madsen (31 saves / 33 shots)

April 11	Minot Minotauros		1 – 2		Austin Bruins	Maysa Arena
No scoring		First period			Casey Jerry (1) - 12:01 Luke Dietsch (3) - 16:29
19:03 - pp - Jon Lizotte (1)		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Merrick Madsen (36 saves / 38 shots)		Goalie stats			Nick Lehr (27 saves / 28 shots)

April 12	Minot Minotauros		3 – 4	3OT	Austin Bruins	Maysa Arena
18:28 - Tim Donohue (3) 18:39 - Luke Voltin (1)		First period			No scoring
9:54 - Jake Johnson (1)		Second period			Easton Viitala (1) - 5:54 Trey Dodd (1) - pp - 12:02 Lucas Kohls (1) - pp - 15:41
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Third overtime period			Lucas Kohls (2) - 16:57
Brandon Wildung (67 saves / 71 shots)		Goalie stats			Nick Lehr (50 saves / 53 shots)

Austin wins series 3 – 1

(C2) Aberdeen Wings vs. (C3) Bismarck Bobcats

April 4

Aberdeen Wings

2 – 4

Bismarck Bobcats

Odde Ice Center

April 5

Aberdeen Wings

1 – 5

Bismarck Bobcats

Odde Ice Center

April 11

Bismarck Bobcats

5 – 0

Aberdeen Wings

V.F.W. Sports Center

Bismarck wins series 3 – 0

Midwest Division

(MW1) Fairbanks Ice Dogs vs. (MW4) Kenai River Brown Bears

April 4	Fairbanks Ice Dogs		3 – 0		Kenai River Brown Bears	Big Dipper Ice Arena
11:16 - pp - Tayler Munson (1)		First period			No scoring
15:07 - Lonnie Clary (1)		Second period			No scoring
9:11 - Hans Gorowsky (1)		Third period			No scoring
Kevin Aldridge (23 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats			Zach Quinn (31 saves / 34 shots)

April 5

Fairbanks Ice Dogs

2 – 3

OT

Kenai River Brown Bears

Big Dipper Ice Arena

April 8

Kenai River Brown Bears

2 – 5

Fairbanks Ice Dogs

Soldotna Sports Center

April 9

Kenai River Brown Bears

4 – 3

Fairbanks Ice Dogs

Soldotna Sports Center

April 12

Fairbanks Ice Dogs

3 – 2

OT

Kenai River Brown Bears

Big Dipper Ice Arena

Fairbanks wins series 3 – 2

(MW2) Minnesota Wilderness vs. (MW3) Wenatchee Wild

April 4	Minnesota Wilderness		0 – 3		Wenatchee Wild	Northwoods Credit Union Arena
No scoring		First period			David Powlowski (1) - 17:36
No scoring		Second period			Matt Nuttle (1) - 17:31 Nicholas Rivera (1) - 18:14
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Kasimir Kaskisuo (27 saves / 30 shots)		Goalie stats			Chase Perry (29 saves / 29 shots)

April 5	Minnesota Wilderness		3 – 4		Wenatchee Wild	Northwoods Credit Union Arena
15:34 - Darian Romanko (1) 18:41 - pp - Jakob Romo (1)		First period			Alex Rauter (1) - pp - 7:37 Alex Rauter (2) - sh - 19:30
8:06 - Richard Buri (1)		Second period			Troy Loggins (1) - 4:27 Nicholas Rivera (2) - 14:21
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Kasimir Kaskisuo (5 saves / 7 shots) Frank Oplinger (19 saves / 21 shots)		Goalie stats			Chase Perry (27 saves / 30 shots)

April 6	Minnesota Wilderness		4 – 0		Wenatchee Wild	Northwoods Credit Union Arena
Jaycob McCombs (1) - 18:06		First period			No scoring
Jakob Romo (2) - 0:45 Jakob Romo (3) - 12:52		Second period			No scoring
Michael Covach (1) - en - 19:24		Third period			No scoring
Kasimir Kaskisuo (24 saves / 24 shots)		Goalie stats			Chase Perry (18 saves / 21 shots)

April 11	Wenatchee Wild		2 – 4		Minnesota Wilderness	Town Toyota Center
9:37 - pp - Matt Nuttle (2)		First period			Jaycob McCombs (2) - 2:45
19:33 - pp - Jake Ahlgren (1)		Second period			Eric Brenk (1) - 6:21 Darian Romanko (2) - 13:49
No scoring		Third period			Ivan Chukarov (1) - en - 19:32
Chase Perry (22 saves / 25 shots) Austin Priebe (0 saves / 0 shots)		Goalie stats			Kasimir Kaskisuo (24 saves / 26 shots)

April 12	Wenatchee Wild		1 – 0	OT	Minnesota Wilderness	Town Toyota Center
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Omar Mullan (1) - 18:41		First overtime period			No scoring
Chase Perry (48 saves / 48 shots)		Goalie stats			Kasimir Kaskisuo (53 saves / 54 shots)

Wenatchee wins series 3 – 2

North Division

(N1) Port Huron Fighting Falcons vs. (N4) Johnstown Tomahawks

April 3	Port Huron Fighting Falcons		3 – 2	OT	Johnstown Tomahawks	McMorran Place
1:39 - Bryce VanHorn (1) 6:34 - pp - Bryce VanHorn (2)		First period			Tanner Barnes (1) - 16:35 Jordan Watt (1) - 16:57
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
4:13 - Jon Hall (1)		Third period			No scoring
Max Milosek (19 saves / 21 shots)		Goalie stats			Brett Young (32 saves / 35 shots)

April 4

Port Huron Fighting Falcons

4 – 3

Johnstown Tomahawks

McMorran Place

April 11

Johnstown Tomahawks

3 – 4

Port Huron Fighting Falcons

Cambria County War Memorial Arena

Port Huron wins series 3 – 0

(N2) Michigan Warriors vs. (N3) Janesville Jets

April 4	Michigan Warriors		4 – 2		Janesville Jets	Dort Event Center
14:37 - Jon Farkas (1)		First period			Brandon Schultz (1) - 1:26
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
1:23 - A.J. Marcinek (1) 5:46 - Mitch Wedding (1) 19:59 - en - T.J. Stuntz (1)		Third period			Drew Callin (1) - pp - 8:36
Logan Halladay (20 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats			Trevor Gorsuch (30 saves / 32 shots)

April 4

Michigan Warriors

5 – 1

Janesville Jets

Dort Event Center

April 11

Janesville Jets

2 – 3

Michigan Warriors

Janesville Ice Arena

Michigan wins series 3 – 0

South Division

(S1) Amarillo Bulls vs. (S4) Wichita Falls Wildcats

April 4	Amarillo Bulls		4 – 2		Wichita Falls Wildcats	Amarillo Civic Center
9:37 - Mike Davis (1)		First period			No scoring
17:58 - sh - Mike Davis (2)		Second period			Matt Koch (1) - sh - 8:38
0:43 - Tyler Gernhofer (1) 9:01 - Brendan Vetter (1)		Third period			Rudy Junda (1) - 10:08
Collin Delia (27 saves / 29 shots)		Goalie stats			David Zevnik (18 saves / 22 shots) Chase Munroe (6 saves / 6 shots)

April 5	Amarillo Bulls		7 – 4		Wichita Falls Wildcats	Amarillo Civic Center
2:09 - sh - Roman Ammirato (1) 8:35 - Cody Gylling (1) 9:51 - Tyler Gernhofer (2)		First period			No scoring
18:19 - pp - Kyle Gattelaro (1)		Second period			Kyle Bauman (1) - pp - 5:24 Todd Koritzinsky (1) - 10:47 Evan Okeley (1) - 10:56
10:42 - pp - Brady Ferguson (1) 11:45 - sh - Brady Ferguson (2) 15:11 - Eric Purcell (1)		Third period			Ben Kucera (1) - pp - 18:04
Paul Berrafato (26 saves / 30 shots)		Goalie stats			Chase Munroe (21 saves / 28 shots)

April 11	Wichita Falls Wildcats		2 – 3		Amarillo Bulls	Kay Yeager Coliseum
0:53 - Nick Farmer (1)		First period			Joe Grabowski (1) - 5:13
5:19 - Max Reisinger (1)		Second period			Eric Purcell (2) - 13:40
No scoring		Third period			Kyle Gattelaro (2) - 0:26
David Zevnik (17 saves / 20 shots)		Goalie stats			Collin Delia (33 saves / 35 shots)

Amarillo wins series 3 – 0

(S2) Topeka RoadRunners vs. (S3) Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

April 4	Topeka RoadRunners		3 – 1		Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees	Stormont Vail Events Center
17:02 - Jasen Fernsler (1)		First period			No scoring
14:04 - pp - Jake Kamrass (1)		Second period			No scoring
17:28 - Jake Kamrass (2)		Third period			Marcus Ericsson (1) - 10:44
P.J. Bridges (22 saves / 23 shots)		Goalie stats			Nick Schmit (22 saves / 25 shots)

April 5

Topeka RoadRunners

2 – 1

OT

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

Stormont Vail Events Center

April 9

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

2 – 3

OT

Topeka RoadRunners

State Farm Arena

Topeka wins series 3 – 0