Caps College Hockey Fair has grown since its inception

By: Justin Creech
On Sunday March 28, 2010, the fourth annual Washington Capitals College Hockey Fair will emanate from the Verizon Center. Registration will begin at 8:45 am with the fair beginning one hour later.
Now in its fourth year, the Capitals College Hockey Fair has grown tremendously since it’s inception three years ago. This year’s fair will have representatives from 24 schools from the NCAA, ECAC, WCHA, NESCAC, and the ACHA.
Schools such as Providence College, Quinnipiac, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Bemidji State will represent ECAC and WCHA Division-1 Varsity programs, while Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Virginia, the University of Maryland and George Mason University will represent local schools.
“What we try to bring out in our college day is to show the kids that there are different roads to go to college. That anytime you combine athletics and academics it’s a great combination,” said Comcast SportsNet hockey analyst Craig Laughlin. “But they have to understand that academics are ultimately the goal. They can’t be thinking about the NHL yet, they’ve got to be thinking of just pursuing the collegiate route, and we try to show them that there are different routes.”
The fair will cover a wide range of topics from what coaches look for while recruiting a player to NCAA compliance rules. Michael Robinson, Financial Aid Counselor at the University of Maryland will be in attendance to give information on admissions and financial aid.
This year’s fair will also feature a breakout session where those in attendance can speak to players who are currently playing at the Divison 1, 2, and 3 levels.
“We wanted to give the kids a chance to hear what it’s like to play college hockey from those who know it first hand,” said Steve Hyjek, who is the head of the fair’s organizing committee. “We want the players to talk about how they chose the school they currently attend, and what surprised them when they first got to college.”
Along with the breakout sessions, Paul Kelly, the former director of the NHL’s Player Association, and now the Executive Director of College Hockey Inc., will also be in attendance.
The topics being covered at this year’s fair is a far cry from the topics covered at the first College Hockey Fair.
“The first year we had about 125 people in attendance, and about 10 ACHA programs,” said Hyjek. “We mainly wanted to show the kids that playing in the junior leagues wasn’t their only option to get to college.”
Hyjek said the main goal he wanted to accomplish during the inaugural fair was to erase some of the myths about who could and couldn’t play college hockey.
However, Hyjek, and the Capitals organization wanted to expand the fair, both the venue in which it was held, and the topics being covered.
The inaugural fair was held at the Holiday Inn on Glebe Rd in Arlington, Virginia, but moved to the Verizon Center in 2008, and was held on the Washington Wizards practice court.
Capitals Coordinator of Amateur Hockey and Fan Development, Peter Robinson, said the decision to move the fair to the Verizon Center was made in order to have the fair at a more central location.
“We wanted to bring the fair to a place that made more sense and had more of a connection to the Caps,” said Robinson. “Having it at a hotel in Virginia is going to be great if you live in Virginia, but it’s not going to be very convenient to everybody that lives in Maryland, or even if you’re coming from Richmond.”
A new location combined with having the fair on the final day of the NHL regular season made 2008 a huge success. Those who registered for the hockey fair received discounted tickets to the Capitals regular season finale against the Florida Panthers; a game in which the Capitals won, 3-1, to clinch the Southeast Division and the franchise’s first playoff appearance in five years.
One result of the hockey fair has been the increased attention college coaches are giving recruits in the Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland area.
“It’s exciting because more players from VA, MD and the District of Columbia are getting an opportunity to play at the collegiate level,” said Laughlin, who played at Clarkson University from 1976-1980. “I was from Canada and it’s a totally different landscape. Canadians are heavily recruited as here in MD kids have to accelerate their development through being in fantastic shape, playing at the highest level, then going to college and combining athletics and academics.”
Laughlin will Emcee the event for the fourth year in a row, and attracted his broadcast partner, Joe Beninati, to Co-Host. Beninati, who attended Division 3 Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, played both hockey and lacrosse during his time at Bowdoin, however never played varsity hockey due to an injury he suffered during his freshman year.
Beninati, who holds a degree in Biology, wants to stress to young kids they don’t have to go to the powerhouse schools to play college hockey, but also the value of getting a good education.
“For me it was invaluable,” said Beninati. “The biggest thing for these kids to realize is there is a lot of good hockey players in this country and we’re even seeing European players start to filter in to the U.S. college ranks. So, don’t get fixated on I’m going to be first team All-American at North Dakota or the University of Michigan or one of these powerhouse division 1 programs. There are a lot of places to play good college hockey in the country.”
The success of the fair has also gone beyond just recruiting. The fair was mentioned at the NHL League meetings in Chicago in February as part of the youth hockey discussions.
Robinson also said he has received e-mails from other organizations in the NHL, as well as some teams in the National Basketball Association; all wanting to know if a similar event would work for their team or league.
“I think it could work in every NHL city, and it’s perfect for what USA Hockey is trying to do with their new American Development model,” said Robinson. “They are trying to promote USA hockey and college hockey so that kids don’t go to Canada, or won’t leave the area so they will stay in the system and develop so we have a better pool of kids to choose from.”