Former NHL Players Unite to Launch FASTHockey, A Web Source for Amateur Hockey Recruiting and Information

With the number of amateur hockey players growing dramatically throughout the world, a handful of retired National Hockey League players have come together to launch FASTHockey ( www.FASTHockey.com ) – the Web’s leading resource for amateur hockey and player recruiting. The company is funded by private investors.

FASTHockey lets players market themselves to recruiters around the world in unprecedented fashion to create completely new opportunities to play at the next level. For coaches and recruiters, FASTHockey is an easy-to-use recruiting tool that takes the pain and expense out of recruiting by offering a comprehensive database of player information in one place online.

After a “soft launch” of the service in late 2006, FASTHockey already has more than 4,000 registered players and 300 coaches and recruiters from around the world.

“FASTHockey fundamentally changes how amateur hockey players are discovered and recruited,” said FASTHockey Director of Development Scott Young, a three-time U.S. Olympian, two-time Stanley Cup winner, and a veteran of 1,181 NHL games. “No longer is it difficult for a player to effectively market himself to a wide range of coaches. Nor are coaches limited to looking at just a handful of players because of their recruiting budget. As a result, FASTHockey is creating truly new recruiting opportunities for both sides.”

In addition to Young, other former NHL players involved with the company include:

In addition to these former players, Lyman Bullard, chairman, governor, and managing owner of the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, is an investor and strategic advisor to the company.

“We are thrilled to have assembled such an impressive team of hockey people to launch and grow FASTHockey. It validates the idea that there’s a better way for players and coaches to find each other,” said Marc Ruskin, founder and CEO of FASTHockey. “We envision a day when we’re the platform for all amateur sports recruiting.”

Any player looking to get recruited can simply click on FASTHockey.com and create their own free FASTHockey Profile, complete with age, height, weight, statistics, academic performance, references and contact information. Players can even upload highlight videos of themselves.

As with other social networking Web sites, players can use FASTHockey to network with each other, exchanging information and feedback about the recruiting experience.

“Without FASTHockey, getting noticed by a coach at the next level would be extremely difficult or expensive,” said Zach Lubinski, a junior left wing with 12 goals in 18 games for
Alvirne
High School in

New Hampshire. “FASTHockey makes it really simple for me to market myself for free and look for the program that’s right for me.”

Thousands of FASTHockey Profiles are available for viewing by hundreds of coaches, recruiters, player agents and family advisors who subscribe to FASTHockey.

FASTHockey enables recruiters to manage the top of their recruiting funnel with unprecedented ease, letting them properly evaluate hundreds of players from their computer before quickly narrowing their focus to those that are the best fit. As a result, precious recruiting dollars are spent only on those players an organization wants the most.

FASTHockey also lets recruiters quickly refine their search for certain types of players, making it very simple for them to find 18-year old, left- handed defensemen in the

Chicago area with more than 15 goals and a grade point average above 3.5.

Through additional partnerships with data providers around the world, FASTHockey has more amateur hockey scores, schedules, statistics and video than any other site on the Web, making it easy to track the progress of players and recruits.

“FASTHockey will let me cover a bigger geographic area and look at more players than ever before,” said Bill O’Neill, head coach at
Salem (
Mass.)
State College the last 26 years. “As importantly, recruiting will take less time and cost less money because we can more quickly narrow our recruiting list.”

FASTHockey isn’t just a tool for recruiters and players. Fans can join FASTHockey to keep up with their favorite teams, see the best hockey video clips from around the world, chat with NHL veterans, watch live streaming video of amateur games (such as high school state tournaments), and connect with each other.