The Cap City Summer Elite League, the new professional summer hockey league in Columbus, is off and running.
Theres a new hockey league in Columbus. #CBJ https://t.co/nGIVkkiIBi
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) June 23, 2023
Participants in the league include Zach Werenski, Patrik Laine, Cam Atkinson, Gustav Nyquist, Boone Jenner, Nick Blankenburg, Jack Roslovic, Cole Sillinger, and Carson Meyer.
Here are some highlights from the first few games of the season.
Jack Johnson with a sick between the legs goes through the 5 hole to score for @BatteryHockey@CapCityEliteHKY #CapCityElite pic.twitter.com/UxVQHgN4Zj
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 13, 2023
@CamAtkinson89 and Boone together again. Nice colors too......just sayin :)#CapCityElite pic.twitter.com/8bXhadNzqU
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 13, 2023
Ok Last One. Gus Nyquist buries it to win the game for @BLADETECHHOCKEY 13-12 in Overtime!#CapCityElite @Capcityelitehky pic.twitter.com/pX0J93zmRQ
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 13, 2023
May we present Gus Nyquist with a crazy 360 spin-a-rooni, scoring a goal for @BLADETECHHOCKEY in sweet camo jerseys from @614Hockey, in front of a capacity crowd, on a Tuesday afternoon, in July, in Columbus at the @ChillerIceRinks .
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 21, 2023
"BuT CoLumBuS IsNt A HoCkEy ToWn" pic.twitter.com/C8iYUcT5Rm
@PatrikLaine29 showed up for Week 2 of the @CapCityEliteHKY and in between autograph sessions decided to score some goals :) @614Hockey may be the greatest 0-2 team in the history of hockey. pic.twitter.com/kvuAvbOJJk
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 21, 2023
@ZachWerenski is gonna be just fine folks! The @BlueJacketsNHL Defenseman wasted absolute no time in grabbing an Assist and a Goal at the beginning of the game for @HighBankDistill today in the @CapCityEliteHKY @614Hockey @ChillerIceRinks pic.twitter.com/Bz3Jmz97KZ
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 25, 2023
@JRoslovic96 with the clean-up!@614Hockey @CapCityEliteHKY
— Yamo Media (@YamoMedia) July 19, 2023
P.S. Ignore the clock. We were off by a few seconds pic.twitter.com/ej1b7sRRkR
As you can see in the videos, the league is drawing strong crowds in the middle of the summer, which speaks to Columbus as a hockey town with a large appetite for hockey. This is not the only league Blue Jackets players are participating in this summer, however. Kent Johnson just wrapped up his season in the North Shore Inline Hockey League in the Vancouver area, scoring 41 goals and 82 points in 15 games. Johnson's teammates included Connor Bedard and Andrew Cristall, the No. 1 and No. 40 picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, respectively.
With under a minute left, Kent Johnson (@BlueJacketsNHL) ties it up on a feed from Connor Bedard (@NHLBlackhawks)! #CBJ | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pf6IYbEgjP
— NSIHLA (@NsihlAdult) July 25, 2023
The Cap City Elite League is a great thing for the city of Columbus and the surrounding areas, and hopefully, it only continues to grow over the years.
The league's championship game will be played on August 31, just about three weeks before Blue Jackets training camp is set to begin.
