New summer league gives Columbus-area talent a chance to show off

There are plenty of ways to measure the growth of hockey in Columbus over the past few decades, and another took place this week with the launch of a new summer hockey league for high-level players in the area.

The Cap City Summer Elite League began play yesterday at OhioHealth Chiller North, providing a number of Blue Jackets and fellow NHLers -- as well as other pros, college players and more with ties to the area -- the chance to get work in before training camps begin this fall.

The league features four teams and will run each Tuesday through the end of August, and its existence is a testament to how many talented hockey players now call Central Ohio home.

"My first year in the OHL (in 2009) after I played for the Junior Blue Jackets program, something like this would never have been possible," said J.C. Campagna, one of the local hockey lifers who is helping bring the league to life. "We would have been able to play 4-on-4 with no subs. So now the fact that we have four teams and guys are signing up and on a waiting list to get in as subs, it speaks to the growth of hockey in Columbus over the past 10 years. Columbus is becoming a hotbed."

GUARANTEE YOUR CHANCE TO SEE THE JACKETS

For Tuesday's opening games, there was a bevy of standouts on the ice, including four current members of the Blue Jackets organization and eight active NHL players in all. CBJ captain Boone Jenner and local products Sean Kuraly, Jack Roslovic and Carson Meyer skated yesterday, while the quartet was joined by former Blue Jackets Cam Atkinson, Gustav Nyquist, Jack Johnson and Justin Richards.

The stands at Rink 1 at Chiller North on Tuesday were filled with fans, who also ringed around the south end of the rink to get a close look at the action. Plenty of kids were there, with the players on hand were happy to sign autographs once the day's games were complete.

"The rink is packed," Jenner said. "People are ready for some hockey, and it was fun to play in front of a crowd like that. A lot of kids and excitement around the rink here, so it was cool. I don't know if I'll make them all, but when I'm here, I'm going to definitely play. It's just something fun to do with the community and having all the kids out watching."

Among the other notable names to take part in week one were Campagna; former NHL player and Ohio State standout Dave Steckel; Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum and longtime AHLer Cole Cassels; current Buckeyes Nate McBrayer, Dalton Messina, John Larkin and Scooter Brickey; recent Bowling Green standouts Chase Gresock and Eric Dop; and NCAA Division III champion Ayo Adeniye. The league website also indicates current CBJ players Cole Sillinger and Patrik Laine as well as Columbus native and Nashville Predators forward Kiefer Sherwood are on rosters but did not play in week one.

It's an impressive group of players, and as word of mouth spread, it became easier and easier to get more players to commit to take part.

"At the end of the day, it's just about growing hockey in Columbus," Campagna said. "It's free to get into the games. Fans are going to be able to see their favorite players play in a different atmosphere, not in front of 15,000 people. It's going to be a fun, pond-hockey style. It will still be competitive because we're getting ready for our season, but it will be more laid back. We're going to do some skill stuff, we can do trick shots, we can cherry pick a little bit to get a breakaway. That's gonna be the fun part about it, the fan engagement."

Campagna, a veteran of seven pro hockey seasons who has made it to the AHL, is joined in the venture by Pat Cannone, a former NHL player who is director of player development and advancement for the AAA Blue Jackets; Nick Petraglia, a former player at Miami University who is executive vice president of the AAA Blue Jackets; and Joey Nahay, a coach at the Battery Hockey Academy in Plain City that is co-owned by Atkinson.

This type of summer league has been done before in other places, most notably in Minnesota where many of the state's top players take part in Da Beauty League each year. A similar league, the Eastside Elite League, is now in its 15th year in the Detroit area, and its founder, Steve Oleksy, often asked Campagna to take part over the years.

Driving three hours for a summer league game always seemed like too much, though, for Campagna, and as time went on, the idea to build a similar league in Central Ohio was never too far from his mind.

"We have a pretty good hockey scene here, and all the boys here are like, it would be cool if we could play games and stuff getting closer to training camp," Campagna said. "We wound up doing mini games and scrimmages off on our own anyway. So I was like, 'What if we just did it here? Let's just pull the trigger on it. We've been talking about it for years. Enough is enough. Let's just do it.'"

So far, the support has made it seem like the league might be on to something.

"It's great to see the turnout with all the kids," Atkinson said. "I've known all along how special this place is. The youth programs keep getting bigger and better. More and more kids are playing hockey, so it just goes to show you on a Tuesday in the summer what a great hockey town this is."

(Photo courtesy of Dani Smith)