Current Hastings Raider senior forward Mark DeNoyer was one of two players drafted by the Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Tier III Hockey League (NA3HL).
There are three tiers to Junior Hockey. United States Hockey League (USHL) is Tier I, North American Hockey League (NAHL) is Tier II and NA3HL is Tier III. The goals of junior hockey are to promote, develop and administer the domestic USA Hockey program for junior-aged players, teams and leagues.
The first player added to the franchise was Cloquet-Esko-Carlton forward Ryan Jones. The 18-year-old Jones was the 49th overall selection (2nd round) of the NA3HL draft. Jones played 23 games for the CEC Lumberjacks in his senior season of 2023-24, recording six goals and six assists.
DeNoyer, who was drafted in the 3rd round, (73rd overall), played through his junior year in Hastings. In his junior season he scored nine goals and 18 assists for a total of 27 points in 22 games. His senior year, he opted to play at Oakmoor Academy 18UAAA in Iowa where he played in 64 games. There he posted 15 goals and 34 assists for 49 points.
As of today, the next step for DeNoyer is a bit of ‘wait and see’. The Tier II draft is scheduled for June 12 and the rest of his summer will be determined then as he hopes to be selected by a Tier II team.
If DeNoyer continues with the NA3HL path, he will be joining nine other player tenders, four Duluthians: Christian Houser, Wyatt Peterson, John Scott and Noah Teng. Cooper Ellena of Cloquet, Brady Johnson of St. Michael, MN (who played high school hockey in Brainerd), Nicholas Maffeo of Austin, TX, Lance Murray of Eagan, MN, and Jay Svaren of Rosemount, MN, were also tendered.
There are now two MN Wilderness teams in Minnesota, the NAHL Tier II team and the NA3HL Tier III team. The Tier III Wilderness are entering their inaugural season for 24-25 after Tier II Wilderness owner Barry Bohman acquired the Minnesota Loons upon the completion of their 23-24 season. In their final season as the Loons, they finished the 2023 season as the Midwest Division Playoff Champions. The new Tier III Wilderness currently does not have a home arena, but they will begin play in September once they decide on the location in northeastern Minnesota.
Raider fans may recognize the NA3HL league from when 2021 graduate Kyle Bauer joined the Rochester Grizzlies for a year of Tier III hockey and then joined the Anchorage Wolverines of the NAHL for a year of Tier II hockey before going to the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire for the 23-24 season.
One thing is clear, the summer will be busy for DeNoyer as he works to make an NAHL roster to continue his hockey career after high school.