The Capitals have gone national! Owen Nei's last game at the "Chuck" was featured on NBC Nightly News on Saturday, March 19th.
NBC anchor Jose Diaz-Balart interviewed Chris and Owen Nei, manager Scott McMahon, and teammates for the segment.
Reflecting on how Owen's inspiring story has gone national, McMahon reflected, "what started as a 'hey let's get a bunch of people at Owen's last game,' has turned into something that none of us could imagine!"
The Capitals Peewee C Blue team won its district championship in a 3-2 overtime victory against White Bear Lake Orange.
The team's road to the championship was not easy. After rolling over Hudson, the team had to come back from a 3 goal deficit in the final period to prevail over a tough City of Lakes squad in its next game. That victory was followed by a tight game against the East Metro Stars, before the team met up with White Bear Lake Orange, a team it had not beaten all season.
Led by Captain Owen Nei, playing in his final game as a St. Paul Capital, the Capitals took an early lead in the first period. The teams traded goals in the second period to put the Caps up by one going into the final frame. But White Bear Lake battled back and tied the game towards the end of the third period, sending the game into overtime. A minute into sudden death, Defenseman Felix Show shot the puck from the top of the left circle through the goalie's legs to win the game and the District 2 Championship!
Coach Chris Nei reflected after the game, "The kids played great tonight. This is a special group of kids. They didn't lose a game against another C team all season."
Congratulations to the Peewee C Blues on its Peewee C District Championship!!!
Congratulations to the Caps Bantam B1 and Bantam AA teams on qualifying for regions today! Our Bantam B1 team beat Mahtomedi by a score of 5-1 to get second place in the Bantam B1 District tournament. Mahtomedi beat our Bantam B1 team in the early rounds pushing the Caps to the loser's bracket, but after prevailing against Forest Lake, the Bantam B1 came back to avenge its earlier loss to Mahtomedi and qualify for Regions! Congrats to Coach Dave Rust and his entire team!
Likewise, our Bantam AA team was pushed to the loser's bracket after its first round loss to Stillwater, but it prevailed against Mahtomedi to win the loser's bracket for a face-off against White Bear Lake in the second place game. Today, the Bantam AA team prevailed to take second place in the District tournament and move on to regions. Congrats to Coach Dane Erickson and his entire team.
Come back later for an update about the rest of our Caps teams in regions. Go Caps!
Registration is now open for the Capitals Summer Hockey Camp. Many other exciting hockey camps are also available this summer. Check out our Summer Hockey Development for more information. Register soon, because these awesome camps are sure to fill fast!
It was a big weekend of competitive hockey for the 8UA team at the White Bear Lake Bear Claw Classic. The team put their skills on display, winning three games before besting the hosts 6-1 in the championship to take home the first place trophy.
What a great way to show off the progress the team has made individually and as a team through working hard this season. Next up, a couple of ice times and the end of the season party. You've earned it, girls!
Congratulations to our 10UA girls team who placed second in the District 2 playoffs!!! The 10UA girls beat Stillwater in the first round of the playoffs to advance to the district championship game against Forest Lake in Forest Lake. Although the girls fought hard tonight through the entire game, they could not overcome that home ice advantage. But for a team that started the season at the 10UB1 level, to finish second in the district at the 10UA level is a huge accomplishment! The Caps are tremendously proud of these girls. Congrats to head coach Jason Pettengill, and assistant coaches Sean Skrypek and Jeff Goettl and their 10UA girls on an amazing season! Go Caps!
The Capitals community celebrated what St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proclaimed to be "Owen Nei Day" last Friday, February 11 at Charles Schulz-Highland Arena. The Capitals community packed the stands in recognition of Owen Nei's last home game at "the Chuck."
Pre-game festivities included a visit by former Wild player Wes Walz, who presented Owen with a gift from the Minnesota Wild.
The packed house, which included players from all Capitals teams in their home whites, and the Cretin-Derham Hall girls and boys hockey teams, erupted as Owen Nei led his peewee team onto the ice for pre-game warm-ups. When Nei scored in the second period, the packed student section nearly brought down the Plexiglas surrounding the rink!
After three hard fought periods, Nei led his team to a 9-0 victory over the Baldwin Blackhawks peewee team, which graciously presented Nei with its own gift at center ice after the game.
After the game, Nei received gifts from Hiway Credit Union, and Gillette's Children's Specialty Healthcare, and video salutes from current Wild player Marcus Foligno, and former Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Owen's dad Chris expressed his gratitude for the big celebration after the game, "I still can’t find the words to say how much tonight means to Owen and our family. We were completely blown away!"
Nei is rumored to be headed to a managerial role with the Cretin-Derham Hall boys program next season, but those rumors could not be confirmed at press time.
Hats off to all the girls and women in sports, especially our own St. Paul Capitals. This celebration inspires girls and women to play, be active, and realize their full power. Every day, Capitals girls do their best on and off the ice as they represent girls and women in sport.
If you haven't had a chance, check out the excellent documentary on girls and womens hockey in Minnesota, Homegrown. It's an inspiring story of the growth of girls and womens hockey in our state.
Let's go, Caps! And let's go, girls and women in sports!
The Saint Paul Capitals are proud of the achievements of all of our players, but today we salute our G.O.A.T., Kyle Okposo.
Okposo started playing with the Capitals (then called the Highland-Central Hockey Association) as a six year-old. Like many Capitals, Okposo spent hours playing at Groveland.
Okposo recounted in a 2011 interview, "I used to skate [at Groveland] at least four times a week. . . . Those were the times when you really love game and you play it in your purest form. I can just remember countless hours of being there and my parents coming at like 6 or 7 o’clock and telling them that I wanted to stay on the ice for a couple more hours, just working on stuff and having fun.”
After playing with the Capitals through peewees, where he was coached by current Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders coach Matt Funk, Okposo went on to play at Shattuck-St. Mary's and the University of Minnesota. In 2006, Okposo was drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round of the NHL draft, and he currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres. In his 15 year NHL career, Okposo has tallied over 500 points in nearly 900 NHL games.
The Capitals tap our sticks to the Capitals G.O.A.T., Kyle Okposo.
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