2014 USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championship

This is the 2014 USA Hockey's national championship for teams classified at the Tier III Junior level.
The tournament was held at the International Skating Center of CT, in Simsbury, Connecticut from April 3-7, 2014.  The Hartford Jr. Wolfpack and the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League were listed as hosting the event.  The facility has two sheets of ice one NHL size and one Olympic size.
The playoff champions of the nine leagues classified as Tier III automaticly qualified for the championships and 3 other teams were entered the tournament.
The tournament format was three pools of four teams playing a single round robin.  Each team played one game on April 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  The the top team in each pool advanced along with a wild card team from the teams finishing second in each pool with the semifinal round being held April 6 and the semifinal winners met on April 7 for the National Championship.
==Qualifying teams==
===League Champions===
*American West Hockey League:  Helena Bighorns
*Eastern Hockey League: Northern Cyclones
*Metropolitan Junior Hockey League:  Boston Bandits
*Minnesota Junior Hockey League:  Marquette Royals
*North American 3 Hockey League: North Iowa Bulls
*Northern Pacific Hockey League: Bellingham Blazers
*United States Premier Hockey League-Elite:  Springfield Pics
*United States Premier Hockey League-Empire: Florida Jr. Blades
*United States Premier Hockey League-Premier:   Boston Jr. Bruins
===Other Qualifiers===
*New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, of the Eastern Hockey League listed as host, they defeated the runnerup of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, the Boston Jr Rangers,  in a single game playoff
*Dells Ducks, of the Minnesota Junior Hockey League, runner up in league playoffs
*Flint Jr. Generals of the NA3HL, playoff runner-up
==Pool A "Red"==
===Teams===
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, Junior Bruins, Helena Bighorns, Marquette Royals
===Results===
April 3
*Junior Bruins 5, New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs 3
*Helena Bighorns 6, Marquette Royals 2
April 4
*Junior Bruins 6, Helena Bighorns 0
*New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs 7, Marquette Royals 2
April 5
*Junior Bruins 11, Marquette Royals 1
*New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs 5, Helena Bighorns 3
===Standings===
seed team                       W-L-PTS-GF-GA
#Junior Bruins          3-0-6-22-4 
#NH Jr. Monarchs     2-1-4-15-10
#Helena Bighorns    1-2-2-9-13
#Marquette Royals  0-3-0-5-24
Junior Bruins advance to semifinals
==Pool B "White"==
===Teams===
Springfield Pics, Northern Cyclones, Flint Jr. Generals, Bellingham Blazers
===Results===
April 3
*Northern Cyclones 4, Springfield Pics 3
*Flint Jr. Generals 6, Bellingham Blazers 1
April 4
*Northern Cyclones 12, Bellingham Blazers 0
*Springfield Pics 6, Flint Jr. Generals 0
April 5
*Flint Jr. Generals 5, Northern Cyclones 2
*Springfield Pics 8, Bellingham Blazers 2
===Standings===
seed team                         W-L-PTS-GF-GA
#Springfiled Pics         2-1-4-17-6
#Northern Cyclones    2-1-4-18-8
#Flint Jr. Generals       2-1-4-11-9
#Bellingham Blazers    0-3-0-3-26
Springfield wins pool on goal differential +11 to +10 to +2
Northern Cyclones finish second on goal differential +10 to +2
Springfiled Pics advance to semifinals
==Pool C "Blue"==
===Teams===
Florida Jr. Blades, North Iowa Bulls, Dells Ducks, Boston Bandits
===Results===
April 3
*North Iowa Bulls 5, Florida Jr. Blades 0
*Dells Ducks 3, Boston Bandits 1
April 4
*North Iowa Bulls 5, Dells Ducks 1
*Boston Bandits 2, Florida Jr. Blades 1
April 5
*North Iowa Bulls 11, Boston Bandits 2
*Dells Ducks 5, Florida Jr. Blades 3
===Standings===
seed team                     W-L-PTS-GF-GA
#North Iowa Bulls    3-0-6-21-3
#Dells Ducks          2-1-4-9-9
#Boston Bandits     1-2-2-5-15
#Florida Jr. Blades 0-3-0-4-12
North Iowa Bulls advance to semifinals
==Wild Card qualifier for semifinals==
The Northern Cyclones (+10) advance over the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (+5) and Dells Ducks (0) based on goal differential as all teams had a 2-1 records in the pools
==Semifinals (April 6)==
*Junior Bruins defeated Springfield Pics, 6-0
*North Iowa Bulls defeated Northern Cyclones, 5-1
==Final (April 7)==
*Junior Bruins defeat North Iowa Bulls 4 to 1
source: USA Hockey tournament website
Category:2014 in hockey