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Monthly Archives: March 2015

From rink to campus: 3 Hockey is For Everyone players win college scholarships

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Gary Bettman, Hockey is for Everyone, Ted Leonsis, Washington Capitals

Wyatt Christiansen, an NHL/TMCF recipient.

Wyatt Christiansen, an NHL/TMCF recipient.

Congratulations to Wyatt Christiansen, Cassidy Guthrie, and Austin Verissimo, the 2015 NHL/Thurgood Marshall College Fund academic scholarship recipients.

The three winners, each hockey players who participated in one of the National Hockey League-affiliated Hockey is for Everyone programs, were announced  last week at an event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Christiansen is a defenseman from Calgary’s Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS) program. He intends to major in business at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

Guthrie, a hockey player for 11 years, hails from Ohio’s Columbus Ice Hockey Club.

Cassidy Guthrie.

Cassidy Guthrie.

She’s currently a sophomore at Miami University, where she’s a member of the school’s women’s club hockey team. Her scholarship will cover her remaining two years at the university.

Verissimo has played hockey for three years and is a member of New Jersey’s Hockey in Newark program. He’s interested in studying finance and has set his sights on attending Cornell University in New York.

“At the National Hockey League, it is our priority to do whatever we can to encourage young hockey players to pursue their education as eagerly as they pursue the puck,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the announcement event attended by Washington Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis, Thurgood Marshall College Fund President & CEO Johnny Taylor, USA Hockey Senior Communications Director Dave Fischer, and the Stanley Cup. “We want to connect the skills of skating and passing with the disciplines of study and passion for learning, to link the joys of scoring goals on ice with the importance of setting goals off the ice, and one of the ways we pursue those objectives is through our support of the NHL/Thurgood Marshall Scholarship.”

Austin Verissimo.
Austin Verissimo.

The NHL and TMCF have partnered to award scholarships to academically-eligible Hockey is for Everyone players since 2012. Hockey is For Everyone programs are nonprofit organizations across North America.

The programs provide youth of all backgrounds the chance to play hockey at little or no cost and serve as a means to encourage them to stay in school. In addition, participants learn essential life skills through the core values of hockey: commitment, perseverance, and teamwork.

Money for the scholarships is generated in part from an annual charity hockey game played between a team with members of Congress and a squad of Washington lobbyists.

The lawmakers defeated the lobbyists 3-2 in the game played last week at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the Capitals’ practice facility. Rep. John Katko, a Republican from New York, scored the winning goal with an assist from former Washington Capitals great Peter Bondra.

The event raised more than $100,000 and gave the lawmakers team – which included Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Eric Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) – bragging rights for another year.

“It couldn’t have been any more fun,” Katko told Syracuse.com. “It was a great charity event. We skated with wounded warriors. One of my great, great heroes is Peter Bondra. I told him before the game, I said ‘Peter, you’re from Slovakia, my father’s from Slovakia (with) his family, you’ve got to get me a goal.’ And he got me the game-winner. It was great.”

 

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Alex Ovechkin skates with D.C.’s Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Alex Ovechkin, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, Washington Capitals

What do players from the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club do when their Washington, D.C., rink is closed for annual maintenance? They go to Ovie’s house.

Alex Ovechkin shows Fort Dupont player how NHL defenders feel (Photo/Patrick McDermott).

Alex Ovechkin shows Fort Dupont player how NHL defenders feel (Photo/Patrick McDermott).

Thirty-five kids from the nation’s oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program hit the ice with Washington Capitals All-Star left wing Alex Ovechkin at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Virginia Monday for a clinic.

“Can you imagine having the greatest hockey player…come up and play with you?” Neal Henderson, Fort Dupont’s director and founder told USA Today. “Can you imagine what that is. To be able to touch and talk to an idol like him…is unforgettable.”

Thirty-five players from the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club hang with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (Photo/Patrick McDermott)

Thirty-five players from the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club hang with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (Photo/Patrick McDermott)

The clinic was sponsored by Beats by Dr. Dre, a product that Ovechkin endorses. Former Capitals players Alan May and Brent Johnson joined Ovechkin on the Kettler ice.

Ovie perhaps waiting for a pass from Caps center Nicklas Backstrom? Watch out, goalie!(Photo/Patrick McDermott).

Ovie perhaps waiting for a pass from Caps center Nicklas Backstrom? Watch out, goalie!(Photo/Patrick McDermott).

“It’s great for the kids, and for me to spend time with the kids,” Ovechkin told USA Today. “Of course (my mind) is not 100 percent off the game or the playoffs, but to do something like that, it’s always nice, it’s always good for everybody.”

 

 

 

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OHL’s Taylor Davis works to join cast of Jersey Boys in National Hockey League

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Jeremy Roenick, Johnny Gaurdreau, Ottawa 67's, Patrick Kane, T.R. Goodman, Taylor Davis, Toronto Maple Leafs, Truman Dumel

A bridge that connects Pennsylvania and New Jersey has the slogan “Trenton Makes The World Takes” in huge neon-lit letters posted across its span- a tribute to the Garden State capital’s manufacturing and industrial heritage.

Taylor Davis wants to be Trenton’s next big export, and he’s working far from the shadows of the Lower Trenton Toll Supported Bridge that carries his hometown’s motto in hopes of making his hockey dreams come true.

Hockey has taken Davis from N.J. capital to Canada's (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com)

Hockey has taken Davis from N.J. capital to Canada’s (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com)

Davis first put on a pair of skates at Mercer County’s Ice Land when he was three years old after he watched a hockey game on television and told his mother “Mommy, I want to do that.”

Today, Davis is a 19-year-old defenseman for the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s, and he’s on a mission to join fellow Jersey Boys like Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau and Toronto Maple Leafs left wing James van Riemsdyk in the National Hockey League.

“That’s the goal,” Davis said.

Gaudreau was a fourth-round draft pick in 2011. Van Riemsdyk was the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, taken behind Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.

While “Johnny Hockey” and JVR burst onto the hockey scene as heralded draft picks, Davis has had to barge his way into the consciousness of the hockey world.

Taylor Davis went from walk-on to defensive standout for the OHL's Ottawa 67's (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com).

Taylor Davis went from walk-on to defensive standout for the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com).

He wasn’t drafted by any Canadian major junior hockey team despite helping Western New York’s Kenmore East High School win the New York State Division II (Small School) championship in 2012 and despite having a solid 2011-12 season with the Buffalo Blades, a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League team that counts Patrick Kane and former NHLer Todd Marchant among its alums.

Davis joined 67’s basically as a walk-on after being recommended to team officials

Scout Truman Dumel recommended Davis to 67"s.

Scout Truman Dumel recommended Davis to 67″s.

by Truman Dumel, a bird-dog scout who never actually saw Davis play but knew of his hockey pedigree and commitment to the game.

“I kept in touch with their head scout, who was Joe Rowley at the time, and he asks me if I know of any guys,” Dumel recalled. “I go to him, ‘Yeah, I know this kid from New Jersey.'”

Dumel’s recommendation earned Davis an invite to Ottawa’s rookie camp. His performance there garnered an invitation to the 67’s main camp and a roster spot on the team in 2012-13.

He’s been a mainstay on the blue line ever since, though he admits it was a challenge in the beginning of his OHL career.

“I had ups and downs in my first year, going against guys in practice like (Sean)Monahan, who’s in the NHL with the Calgary Flames now,” Davis told me recently. “It was a total shock coming from where you were the man and now you’re a fish in the big sea. It was pretty tough, but it’s been a nice adjustment for me.”

Taylor Davis has skated his way from New Jersey's capital to Canada's capital (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com).

Taylor Davis has skated his way from New Jersey’s capital to Canada’s capital (Photo/Valerie Wutti/Blitzenphotography.com).

Nice indeed. This season, the 5-foot-11, 216-pound Davis has 2 goals and 11 assists in 47 games for the 67’s. He’s turned around a rookie-year plus/minus of minus-10 to a plus-11 this season.

“He has all the talent,” Dumel said. “He’s determined. He knows he has to prove himself, which is what he’s doing. He’s been playing hockey since he was three. He’s trying to go as far as he can.”

Trying to get far in hockey has kept Davis far from home in the off-season. He spent last summer in Venice Beach, California, working out with fitness maven T.R. Goodman,  who’s trained Anaheim Ducks forward Emerson Etem and retired NHL stars Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, and Alan May.

“He’s very good, definitely knows his stuff,” Davis said of Goodman. “When I was there, Emerson Etem was there. Mike Tyson was there in the mornings and you’d see Lou Ferrigno walking around Gold’s Gym all the time.”

When he wasn’t pumping iron, Davis would chat with actor Ray Liotta, another Jersey Boy and regular at Goodman’s gym.

“Ray Liotta was always in there,” Davis said. “I always talked to him – he’s a really funny guy.”

 

 

 

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NHL trade deadline, O’Ree Skills Weekend, showcase hockey’s growth

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Anthony Duclair, Chris Stewart, Evander Kane, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Wayne Simmonds, Willie O'Ree

Notes and quotes about hockey folks.

Another sign of how far people of color have come in hockey: Four black players were traded by the close of the National Hockey League’s trade deadline Monday.

The Buffalo Sabres shipped forward Chris Stewart to the Minnesota Wild Monday for a 2017 second-round draft pick.

Forward Chris Stewart, one of four black players moved before NHL trade deadline.

Forward Chris Stewart, one of four black players moved before NHL trade deadline.

The New York Rangers sent forward Anthony Duclair, their 2013 3rd-round draft pick, to the Arizona Coyotes as part of a package that took coveted puck-moving defenseman Keith Yandle  to Broadway.

The trade potentially reunites Duclair, currently playing for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with Max Domi, a Coyotes 2013 first-round draft pick who plays for the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.

Duclair, Domi and Sam Reinhart, a Sabres 2014 first round draft pick, combined on a line for Team Canada that dominated the competition on Canada’s way to a Gold Medal at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. Don’t be surprised to see The Duke and Domi  as high-scoring pups who reinvigorate the Desert Dogs next season.

The Anaheim Ducks sent right wing Devante Smith-Pelly, a force in the Ducks’ Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance last season, to the Montreal Canadiens for left wing  Jiri Sekac.

The Winnipeg Jets shipped unhappy left wing Evander Kane to Buffalo in a multi-player mega-deal that landed the Jets defenseman Tyler Myers, right wing Drew

Stafford, and left wing Brendan Lemieux, a highly-touted prospect who plays for the OHL’s Barrie Colts.

What do these trades say about minorities in hockey? Growth. It wasn’t so long ago when there weren’t even four black players in the NHL. Today, there are nearly three dozen. Some of them are fixtures on their teams while others are call-ups from the minor leagues. The trades are a testament not only to the quantity of players of color in the league but to their quality and skill level as well.

Diversity on display in Flyers' locker room. Left to right: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Wayne Simmonds, Willie O'Ree and Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

Diversity on display in Flyers’ locker room. Left to right: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Wayne Simmonds, Willie O’Ree and Ray Emery (Photo/Philadelphia Flyers).

Congrats to the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation for hosting a fun and successful 2015 Willie O’Ree Skills Weekend last weekend. The event involved kids from the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” programs.

O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, is a role model for “Hockey is for Everyone” kids and for many of grownups playing on NHL teams.

“He’s my elder,” Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds told reporters. “I treat him with respect and let him know I have a lot of admiration for him. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be playing this game today. I know that.”

Team Ontario Assistant Coach Cyril Bollers, second row, right.

Team Ontario Assistant Coach Cyril Bollers, second row, right.

And finally, congrats to Cyril Bollers, coach and president of Skillz Hockey, for his work as assistant coach for Team Ontario’s Gold Medal-winning hockey team at the Canada Winter Games, which ended Sunday.

Ontario beat Team Alberta 3-1 Sunday in the championship game played in Prince George, B.C.  The Ontario squad finished the Under-16 tournament with a 6-0 record.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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