Nationals showcase their talents in Minnesota

One of the most exciting aspects of playing in the North American Tier 3 Hockey League is that it allows players to show what they can do. And there is no better way for the Glacier Nationals and other players in the league to do that than the NA3HL Showcase this week in Minnesota.

The Nationals, who play in the Frontier division, will be in Blaine, Minnesota with the other 31 teams in the league and over the next few days, they will take on Sugar Land, Texas, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Glacier will take on Sugar today at 2:45, following by Cincinnati on Friday at 2:45 p.m., and Pittsburgh Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Glacier, which is in the midst of a 15-game winless streak, could use a change of scenery. Tyler McMahon has been a bright spot this season for the Nationals and has 25 points (16 goals, nine assists), almost twice as many as the next best player Collin Schieman, who has 14 with seven goals and seven assists.

The Nationals have struggled to both score goals and stop them, which accounts for their goal differential of -103. Yet, Sugar Land is no juggernaut as it has a record of 10-15-1 to go along with a goal differential of -25.

Sugar Land also has two talented scorers in Luca Valenza, who has 17 goals and 10 assists and Zac McKenna, who has 12 goals and 19 assists.

When trying to stop opposing teams from scoring, the Nationals will give a few different players opportunities in net with Mikhail Pahrebets, Raymond Smith and Ben Perone all expected to see action.

After taking on Sugar Land, the Nationals will take on the Cincinnati Thunder Friday. Much like Glacier, the start of the 2015-16 season has been forgettable as they have a 6-10-4 record, which ranks them fourth of five teams in the Midwest division.

The Thunder also have a goal differential of -61 as they surrender close to five goals per game and score just 2.5. Their top player is Marc Anderson, who has 14 goals and eight assists on the season, while Janele Albert has also contributed with six goals and nine assists.

While Cincinnati and Sugar Land are near the bottom of their divisions, Pittsburgh is right in the thick of its division race with a 12-10-2 record. The Vengeance are an interesting team because they don't have a single, doubt-digit goal scorer, but do have nine players that have reached double figures in points, but no one has more goals than the nine of Nicholas Lyons.

Yet, they have had issues scoring and also keeping teams out of their net, which is why their point differential is negative 13, despite a winning record.

In addition to playing new foes, the Nationals also get the opportunity to play in front of college scouts, or scouts from the North American Hockey League, which is the ultimate goal of each player in the league.

Either way, it will be an exciting few days for Glacier, starting with Sugar Land today at 2:45.