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54 // OCTOBER 2026 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Photos / Getty Images T HIS YEAR MARKED THE 11TH TIME Bryan Erikson has coached the Northeast Generals at the NAHL Showcase. With more than 300 NCA A and NHL scouts at the Showcase, Erikson is aware of the spotlight his players are under during the event. He emphasizes keeping it fun so they can play loose in a high-stakes early-season faceoff. "The emotional gymnastics that these kids put themselves through is crazy," Erikson said. "We try to tell them just try to win hockey games and not focus on all the other nonsense." All 36 NAHL teams traveled to the NSC Super Rink in Blaine for the annual Showcase, held Sep. 23-26. Each team played three regu- lar-season games in front of hundreds of scouts and thousands of fans. "It's the Super Bowl of showcases in the beginning of the season," NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld said. The league commissioner since 2007, Frankenfeld calls the show- case part of the league's "core DNA" for helping players go to the next level. He emphasized the team owners' investment in making the Showcase possible each year. "The showcase costs money," Frankenfeld said. "There's gate revenue, there's the teams traveling. But the whole goal is to bring these players under one roof and bring the scouts in." Scouts are seeing these teams in their develop- ing stages where rosters are still taking shape. For example, New Hampshire Mountain Kings head coach Cam Robichaud started a different goalie in all three games his team played during the showcase. The Mountain Kings also brought an extra forward and defenseman to the event and used different lineups in each game. "We wanted to make sure that we had everybody fresh because it's three games in three days, but also to kind of get a look at THE NAHL SHOWCASE IS PART OF LEAGUE'S CORE DNA MORE THAN 300 SCOUTS ATTEND THE EVENT TO SEARCH FOR TOP TALENT by Matthew Davis AMERICAN JUNIOR HOCKEY SPOTLIGHT DIGITAL BONUS CONTENT