Capitals donate their old dasherboards to D.C.'s only public ice rink

In Barry Trotz's first year as the Capitals head coach, he requested the team replace the boards on the ice.

The team listened, but instead of simply throwing away, or even selling, their old boards, they instead decided to give them to a place that could use them.

According to William Douglas at The Color of Hockey, the Capitals have donated a set of their dasherboards to Fort Dupont Ice Arena, D.C.'s only public indoor skating rink.

From Color of Hockey:

"The Fort Dupont Ice Arena was built in 1976 and is one of the few indoor rinks in the United States located in a largely African-American community. It’s a stone’s throw from the historic home of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and, ironically, not too far from where Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider was born.

The rink is home to the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, the nation’s oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program. And the rink offers a Kids on Ice  program that provides youngsters with free skating lessons.  The rink, through its programs, serves 7,000 children annually.

The Capitals are actively involved with the Fort Dupont rink, donating $113,000 to its hockey program since 2004."

The Fort Dupont Ice Arena GM Ty Newberry told Douglas that the rink is set to undergo $20.4 million in renovations beginning next spring, and adding new boards will help cut down costs.

(h/t Puck Daddy)