Dream Gap Tour stop at Capitals practice facility inspires women to play

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Riley Chadwick had a noticeable smile behind her goalie mask when Haley Skarupa skated toward her net and fired a puck just over her shoulder.

It's not every day that the 24-year-old goalie from Annapolis, Maryland, gets to face a gold medalist from the 2018 U.S. Olympic women's hockey team, and she was savoring the moment.
"I am so stoked," Chadwick said afterward. "To be able to come out here regardless of my ability and to have a great time is amazing. And being shot on by Olympians is a dream come true."
Chadwick was one of 15 women who participated in an adult clinic Friday night that was part of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association's 2021-22 Dream Gap Tour stop at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the Washington Capitals' practice facility.
The Washington visit, which began Friday and ends Sunday, is the only U.S. stop on the Dream Gap Tour which features four teams with some of the best women's players in the world competing in a showcase.

The tour's purpose is to help grow the sport and to advance the cause for a single, viable professional women's ice hockey league in North America.
Part of the mission over the weekend included holding clinics for girls and women of all skill levels run by current and former Dream Gap Tour players.
Allie Granato, a forward for Team adidas on the tour, said she was impressed by the number of women she helped coach Friday night. She's the niece of Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager Cammi Granato, Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato and University of Wisconsin coach Tony Granato.
"I think it speaks to the growth of the game that women feel welcome trying the sport at this age, it's a special thing," said Granato, a former University of Vermont player. "I don't know if that would have been the case 20 years ago. It's really awesome to see that they're comfortable to come out here and learn from us, and it's a great thing to be a part of, too."
Carol Chan was the first player on the ice for the clinic, eager to get the lessons started. The 59-year-old Washington, D.C., resident said she started playing hockey eight years ago and is committed to honing her game now that she's recently retired from the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.
"These ladies know what it's like and they have an expert eye and know what we need to do," Chan said of her Dream Gap Tour instructors. "And they took the time to individually talk to us while we were on the ice. When are you going to get that level of coaching? Never!"

The clinic was a homecoming for Skarupa, who lives and works in Boston but grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and played for the Washington Pride, one of the nation's elite girls' programs, before winning gold as a forward with the U.S. at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
"Growing up playing around here, I was the only girl on my team," said Skarupa, who's not playing on the tour this weekend. "Now, coming back and seeing how many girls' teams there are, they're just not limited to that option to play boys' hockey. It's a testament to how strong the Capitals organization is, how much they've grown over the years with [forward Alex] Ovechkin, the (2018) Stanley Cup win as well as the accessibility and visibility of women's hockey."
Kush Sidhu, the Pride's director and coach of their Under-19 prep team, said having events like the Dream Gap Tour will help girls' and women's hockey growth even more in the region.
"If we can bring these events in on a regular basis, that so important for our community, not just for girls, but for the boys, and families that have children -- both boys and girls," said Sidhu, whose program has produced more than 140 NCAA Division I and Division III players, four NCAA women's hockey coaches and two Olympic medalists since 1995 (Skarupa and forward Jessica Lutz, who won a bronze medal with Switzerland at the 2014 Sochi Olympics).
"They can see, 'Oh wow, there's an opportunity for my daughter to play at an elite level beyond college."
Photos: Jess Rapfogel