The CHS hockey team was chosen through an online poll to have its game against Whitman showcased as the inaugural Washington Capitals High School Game of the Week Nov. 30; CHS won 7-2.
As soon as the voting polls went up, over 8,000 votes were cast as people throughout the area used social media to plead for votes for their school’s game.
“People were tweeting, sharing and posting on Facebook to vote for their team,” said Peter Robinson, assistant manager for Youth and Amateur Hockey. “It went viral, and there was a lot of passion.”
According to the former Washington Capitals player and assistant coach Calle Johansson, the Capitals want hockey to become more popular and are hoping that spotlighting games will increase awareness. Johansson played for 15 seasons as a former defenseman on the Washington Capitals.
The game started around 10 p.m. with a ceremonial puck drop presented by Johansson with captains and coaches from both teams. Before the ceremonial dropping, spirited students and fans overcrowded the rink, waving “Rock-the-Red” towels given out by Capital’s cheerleaders and sporting Capitals eye black.
“The fan support was unbelievable,” freshman hockey player Phillip Satin said. “When the team came in from warm-ups about an hour before the game, the line was out the door.”
Absorbing the exciting atmosphere, the Bulldogs rose to the occasion and played focused and determined like any regular season game.
“I think we played the way we have been playing all season, fast, disciplined, smart, aggressive,” head coach Ray McKenzie said. “We didn’t change a thing playing in front of a huge crowd, which was good to see.”
The Washington Capitals partnered up with the Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League (MAPHL), Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (NVSHL) and the Maryland Student Hockey League (MSHL), which the Bulldogs are in, to build awareness and increase participation in the sport.
Besides bringing awareness to the community about school and extracurricular hockey, the Caps are hoping to maintain their fan base while gaining new fans.
“We want to get some more fans to our games and come out and watch us play,” Johansson said. “We need some local guys to play for the Caps.”
With over two years of preparation, the Caps and the leagues decided for high school game coverage to begin during this year’s 2012-2013 season.
“This is the first year we’ve been doing spotlight,” Robinson said. “We’ve been sponsoring MAPHL, MSHL, and NVSHL for many years and my priority was to get involved and have the Caps sponsor.”
The partnership is aiming to highlight about four to five games throughout the season. If the program continues to be a success, the Caps will keep it going and will increase the number of spotlight games for the season. If a team has already been picked for a spotlight game, then it could possibly be up for another nomination.
“We are going to try to spread it out, but teams already picked can be up again,” Robinson said.
According to Johansson, he was impressed with the “tremendous” high tempo of the game.
CHS played with intensity, dominating the first two periods with four goals to Whitman’s none, and aimed to do more than simply beat Whitman, the school that knocked CHS out of the playoffs last year.
“We wanted to strip every ounce of confidence Whitman had,” senior captain Zach Arden said. “They still do have a little bit, so we’ll take care of that next time we play them.”
Overall, CHS took charge of the spotlight from the great atmosphere and the opportunity the Caps provided them.
“This was a surreal experience,” senior captain Zach Satin said. “The Caps being there turned a great regular season game into an incredible experience. It was thrilling to see all of the coverage we got.”
