Player of the Week: Jeff Halpern

One of 3 active Jews in the league (and yes, this is an honest fact, I'm not trying to be racist) Jeff Halpern spent the beginning of the his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. The beginning of this season Halpie came to Dallas as a free agent and has so far underperformed compared to his previous years. In his 6 years at Washington he averaged 14.5 goals and 21 assists per year and he held a 12.8 shooting percentage. This year he was down in all fronts, with 8 goals, 17 assists and a 7.5 shooting percentage.

That said, I'm not complaining - Halpie is a great addition to the team and I'm very happy to see him here, expect to see his numbers way up next year.

So a little bit about Halpie, shall we? Jeff is one of 2 American born players on the Stars team. He grew up in Maryland, a very atypical location for a hockey player to become famous, and slowly found his way up to the big leagues. As a child Halpern's dad, Mel, is said to have driven over 200,000 miles from Maryland all the way up to Quebec and Ontario to chase the dreams of his son - and it's obviously paid off!

At 3 Halpern started on the ice - his father learning with him, at 4 he joined a hockey clinic, at 5 a house league and at 6 a Mites travel team as part of the Capital Beltway Hockey League. At 9 he tried out for, and made, the Little Caps, a team full of 10 and 11 year olds who were all just a little bigger then him.

For high school Halpern went to a prep school in New England to prepare himself for College (and College Hockey) while continuing to play for the Little Caps in teh DC area - it was a regular thing for him to play Saturday night in New England and Sunday night in Maryland. However, by his senior year he was still short on being noticed by the big hockey colleges - so he went "abroad" and took a year in the 51st state playing for the Stratford Cullins in Stratford Ontario - and it was exactly what he needed.

After a successful year (48 goals & 96 assists in 72 games) on a team that won their championships Halpern heard from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Brown Dartmouth, and more importantly Princeton. With the chance to follow his sister to college (Princeton, of course) - he did - and with a breakout year his Jr year he ended up skating at the Caps' rookie training camp and then again as an opposing player against the veteran caps during their summer training camps.

His Sr year Jeff found himself sharing Princeton's Roper Trophy for scholastic and athletic achievement as well as sharing the Ivy League title with Yale. After such a successful year he had 10 agents and 15 NHL teams asking for him - but declined all but 1, the Washington Capitals, without an agent.

The rest is history - and this is our Halpie. You'll be seeing more of him over the next 3 years - and possibly more if his contract is extended.