The Little Caps are pleased to announce Lyon Messier will serve as Head Coach of the Bantam Minor (2010) for the 2023-24 season.

Lyon grew up in the Washington area and played youth hockey with the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs and the Little Caps.  He then played junior hockey for the Texas Tornado in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), where he won a national championship, and later with the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He played major junior hockey in Canada for the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) and Erie Otters (OHL), before moving on to play pro hockey for the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League (CHL).  He was invited to the New York Rangers main camp, played an AHL game, and then went to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) where he won the Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays. "I feel confident my experience can help our players,” Lyon says.  

Lyon is also the owner and operator of the Messier Selects program, providing spring and summer training and showcase opportunities for area players.

"Lyon is a true professional-- you can see his respect and passion for the game in how he prepares and goes about his business." says Hockey Director Matt Thomas. "For a kid in this area still learning about the skills, tactics, and mindset of high-level hockey, I can't think of a better Head Coach than him."

The Little Caps are pleased to announce Alex Guerere will serve as Head Coach of the 15U Midget Team for the 2023-24 season.

Prior to joining the Little Caps coaching staff, Coach Guerere spent the past four seasons with the Ashburn Xtreme club, earning numerous accolades: EJEPL Championships, CBHL Regular Season and Playoff Championships, and multiple National Tournament appearances. In addition to working with the Xtreme, Coach Guerere worked with Bishop O’Connell and ColdRush.

As a player, Coach Guerere played for both the Washington Little Caps and Washington Jr Nationals prior to attending the University of Delaware, where he played for the ACHA Division 1 team.  

Coach Guerere has coached the WLC 2006 group for the past two seasons, earning a bid to the AYHL Playoffs and going undefeated against Team Maryland (5-0) on the way to earning consecutive bids to the USAH Southeast District Tournament.

“Alex has been a relentless force these past two years.” says Hockey Director Matt Thomas. “He's completely reshaped the 2006 squad-- they're now a group of young men who now train and expect to win. He’s passionate, accomplished, driven, and he’s lived it all himself as a Little Caps alumnus. The 2008 birthyear is going to be in excellent hands next season.”

The Little Caps are pleased to announce Joshua Beck will serve as the Head Coach of the 18U Midget Team for the 2023-24 season.

Originally from Scituate, Massachusetts, Beck played youth hockey for the Bay State Breakers. He then played junior hockey for the Seacoast Spartans Prep where he led the team in points. After the Spartans, he attended and played for Babson College (NCAA DIII) Program. Beck graduated from Babson College in 2020 with a degree in Business & Entrepreneurship. In 2017, Beck represented Team USA for the 20th Maccabi Games in Jerusalem, Israel, and won the Silver Medal.

Coach Beck has led the 18u and 15u squads in his tenure, last season making it all the way to the USAH Southeast District Tournament Championship game and coming within a goal of qualifying for USAH Nationals.

“Josh is precisely as advertised—sharp, organized, and high energy,” says Coach Thomas. “He’s done remarkable things in developing his players the past couple seasons, and I’m excited to see what he can do next year.”

In addition to his Little Caps duties, Coach Beck is an Assistant Coach with Stevenson University Mustangs (NCAA D3) as well as a Regional Scout for Spruce Grove Saints, Jr. A Hockey Club of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and Capital District Regional Scout for Neutral Zone, the leading amateur scouting service in North America.

The Washington Little Capitals 2009 squad won the 2023 AYHL Playoff Championship in Philadelphia with a 5-1 win against Philadelphia Little Flyers. This win is the first AYHL Championship for the 2009 squad.

This weekend was a strong showing of hard work and contributions from the entire lineup. The 09 Caps won their first game 5-4 in an overtime thriller against the top-seed NJ Colonials and won their second in a comeback win against a strong Jr Flyers team 6-3. After dropping their final round robin game to the Little Flyers 7-1, the 09 Caps regrouped with a dominant 5-1 victory against the Little Flyers on championship Monday. 

Awards:

All American Forward: Rocco Olek 

All American Defenseman: Donovan Ramos 

Great American Goalie: Conner Sestak 

“The boys worked hard all season to be ready for big moments like this. We batted through some adversity by blowing a lead in game 1 and having to battle back in game 2, but the group stayed calm and confident throughout the tournament and played their best hockey when it mattered most," said Head Coach Brad Kostrzebski. "I couldn’t be more proud of how our team played under pressure and they deserve all the credit in the world for their hard work this season."

Congratulations to our WLC 2009 Team: Tyler Hoyt, Ben Morrison, Thompson Grennan, Rocco Olek, Dean Marulli, Cooper Roberts, Ryan Castro-Ribot, Evan Batbold, Mike Connors, Pierce Williams, Donovan Ramos, Rahmi Moazzez, Andrei Stanislavovich, William Abrantes, Brooks Lytle, Axel Schoenborg, Gavin Werntz, Conner Sestak, HC Brad Kostrzebski, AC Dano Silvers, and Manager Jodie Ramos

The Little Caps are pleased to announce that Director of Player Achievement Duante Abercrombie has accepted a position with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his new role as Coaching Development Associate with the Leafs, Duante will be involved in all facets of the three coaching staffs in the organization-- the NHL Leafs, AHL Toronto Marlies, and ECHL Newfoundland Growlers-- gaining valuable experience, working with numerous coaching staffs, and contributing across a wide spectrum of development.

For the past four seasons with the Little Caps, Abercrombie served as Head Coach for two midget squads and in his latest role as Director of Player Achievement.

"Crazy as it sounds, that's exactly what Duante did for us here," says Little Caps Hockey Director Matt Thomas."His role as Director of Player Achievement was to work up and down our club, with each squad and coaching staff-- wearing a lot of hats, adapting quickly and repeatedly, sometimes working with three or four teams in a single evening."

Abercrombie is an alumnus of Gonzaga College High School (Class of 2005), where he helped Gonzaga win 4 MSHL/ MAPHL Championships, multiple Purple Puck Championships, and numerous games over nationally ranked prep school programs, as a player (2001- 2005) and a coach (2008- 2013). He also coached at Georgetown Preparatory School, and in his first year, he helped lead his team to its first IAC Championship. For the past three seasons, he's served on the coaching staff at Stevenson University (NCAA Division 3), 48-18-4 record overall, including two 18-win seasons. Premiering earlier this year, Abercrombie was the subject of the 'NHL Bound' video series, documenting his involvement as one of two black coaches in the Arizona Coyotes' inaugural coaching internship program. Click here to view the video.

"Duante is a great example to all young inspiring professionals - in any field - believe in yourself, work as hard as you can, and good things will come your way," says Little Caps Executive Director, Doug Plocki. "We will miss Duante for sure, but could not be happier for this impressive young man."