Last week, a new summer league in Columbus dropped the puck on their inaugural season. The league was founded by four local hockey players/coaches in the Columbus area: Nick Petraglia, Pat Cannone, JC Campagna and Joey Nahay.
The “Cap City Summer Elite League,” playing out of Chiller North, has heavy ties with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Current and former players, as well as draft picks, are featured throughout the four teams’ rosters. We’ll look at the format of the league, who some of the rostered players are, and what this can do for hockey in the greater Columbus area.
League Format and Rules
The Cap City league consists of four teams: 614 Hockey, The Battery Hockey Academy, BladeTech, and High Bank Distillery Company. Games will consist of two 25-minute halves with an ice cut in between. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, a three-on-three sudden-death overtime period will be played. The league is no contact and thus checking is not allowed. These rules are normal for summer hockey, but some are creative and new as well.
If a penalty is called, no one goes to the box. Instead, a penalty shot is awarded to the team that was affected by the penalty. All players on the ice will line up on the opposing team’s blue line, except the one player taking the penalty shot. Once this player touches the puck, it is considered “live” and the rest of the players on the ice can chase him. In the event he misses or the goalie saves it, the rebound is live and play continues.
These next two rules are my personal favorites. If a puck goes into the netting and bounces back into play, play continues. This reduces stoppages and whistles, allowing for a fast-paced and more entertaining game. There is also a “money puck red light” that can be activated at any point in the game. Each team gets one opportunity to activate their red light whenever they want. Once activated, any goals scored in the ensuing two minutes are worth double. Both teams can benefit from the money puck and the red light stays on for a full two minutes, even if a goal is scored. When a team is down late in the game, they may want to use the money puck, but they have to consider their opponent can also benefit from it too.
Click here for a full breakdown of the rules and their explanation.
Current and Former Blue Jackets on Rosters
Last week was the first week of action, with the first slate of games taking place on Tuesday, July 11. According to the Cap City website, rosters are subject to change each week depending on players’ availability and summer training schedules. On the roster for the summer, current Blue Jackets players include Boone Jenner, Sean Kuraly, Jack Roslovic, Cole Sillinger, and Patrik Laine. Carson Meyer, drafted by the Blue Jackets in 2017, is also rostered and has played 27 games with the NHL club across the last two seasons.
Cam Atkinson, Gustav Nyquist, Jack Johnson, and Justin Richards are among the former Blue Jackets on the summer league’s roster. Atkinson is heavily involved in the local Columbus hockey scene, as co-owner of the Battery Hockey Academy in Plain City. Nyquist and Johnson spent multiple years in Columbus and both are currently rostered with different NHL teams (Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche, respectively). Richards appeared in two games with the Blue Jackets last season and is the son of former Blue Jackets head coach, Todd Richards.
Growing the Game in Columbus
In addition to current and former Blue Jackets playing in the Cap City league, there are multiple players participating with strong ties to the Columbus youth hockey scene. We mentioned Kuraly, Roslovic, Meyer, and Richards already—all four of these guys spent (at least part of) their youth hockey careers with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program.
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In addition to them, JC Campagna, Kiefer Sherwood, and Cole Cassels have ties to the local hockey scene as all three grew up playing with the AAA Blue Jackets. Campagna has been playing professionally in the American Hockey League (AHL)/ECHL and Europe for the last seven seasons. Sherwood played at nearby Miami University and is currently a member of the Predators. Blue Jackets fans may recognize the name as his younger brother Kole played in a handful of NHL games with the Blue Jackets from 2018-21. Cassels was a third-round pick to Vancouver who excelled in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He has split time between the AHL and various European leagues across the last eight seasons and is the son of former NHLer and Blue Jacket Andrew Cassels.
For these guys, participation in Cap City hits close to home. When they were coming up as young players in the youth organization, there were no summer leagues for them to watch local professional players in. While the NHL club existed for most of their time as kids, it’s different watching the game at Nationwide Arena.
These games provide valuable ice time and game-like competitiveness for the players, but they also provide an opportunity for today’s youth hockey players in Columbus. Seeing this level of talent up close and personal and having a chance to interact with the players before and after is unique. This will help grow the game in the area and provide new role models for aspiring players. Ultimately, we can only hope that some of the young kids in the audience this summer will grow up to play in the NHL someday.