Washington Capitals’ broadcast teams liven up high school hockey games as NHL lockout drags on

When the Stone Bridge and Loudoun County players learned that they were one of the five games that would be voted on to be spotlighted, they joined forces via social media to stuff the ballot box, calling on friends, classmates and relatives to go to the Caps’ Web site and choose their game.

Stone Bridge Coach John Lynch said that his team rallied votes from night nurses in Boston, a University of Virginia sorority and a grandpa in North Carolina.

Gallery

Caps broadcast team gives high school hockey games a professional feel: As the NHL lockout drags on, the Capitals broadcast team headed to Stone Bridge vs. Loudoun County, livening up the atmosphere.

(John McDonnell/The Washington Post) - Caps announcer Wes Johnson sets up to announce the Stone Bridge-Loudoun County hockey game.

“We went throughout the school just telling people: Don’t stop voting,” Stone Bridge player Patrick O’Connor said.

O’Connor’s mother, Patrice, hopes the attention will raise the team’s profile at school in a way that winning the past two league championships has not. Including ice time and uniform costs, each player’s family pays about $1,000 to compete, and not earning a varsity letter for their efforts is a sore point. Some area teams cannot use their school name, colors or mascot.

“I think since they saw how many people voted and how big it was, I don’t think they could ignore it,” said the elder O’Connor, who wore tan gloves that not only kept her hands warm by the ice but also provided padding for when she pounded the glass in celebration of Stone Bridge goals.

Stone Bridge and Loudoun County play in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League, which has 24 varsity teams this season. There also are 13 junior varsity teams and 13 teams in the middle school division, which is in its first year. Interest is high. The two-rink Ashburn facility is open 20 hours a day, seven days a week; there was a high school game there Friday that was scheduled in the 10:40 p.m. to midnight slot.

But those youth hockey participation numbers could go down, at least temporarily, in the youngest, or “mite,” age group in coming seasons, because of the lockout, Loudoun County Coach John Peterson said.

“Little kids who are trying to get into the game, [the NHL] might be their only opportunity to see hockey,” said Zienty, who lived in Chicago when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010. “It’s tough for them. They can’t see these guys flying around on the ice. That’s how I first saw it, was NHL games: ‘Wow, these guys are really moving. That’s pretty cool.’

“Kids this year, they can’t get that. So it might turn them off a little bit.”