While many col­lege stu­dents spent their sum­mer vaca­tions with intern­ships and sum­mer jobs, Ferris hockey player Eric Alexander spent his sum­mer impress­ing NHL executives.

Alexander, a sopho­more for­ward for the Bulldogs, was a non-drafted invi­tee to the Washington Capitals sum­mer devel­op­men­tal camp. While there, he raised expec­ta­tions for his sopho­more sea­son after being named to the all-camp team by Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Though Alexander impressed his coach enough to be named to the all-camp team, it took just one goal to gain the atten­tion of Capitals General Manager George McPhee, who said that Alexander’s first goal of the camp was the best shot he had seen at a devel­op­men­tal camp.

With high praise com­ing from an NHL exec­u­tive, Alexander knows that he has opened some eyes at the pro­fes­sional level.

“It was a really cool feel­ing when I heard that Mr. McPhee was so impressed with my goal, espe­cially with all of the tal­ent that has come through that camp in the past,” said Alexander. “I’m glad that I was able to open a lot of eyes at the camp and it was an awe­some time.”

Coming off a fresh­man sea­son where Alexander scored three goals in lim­ited play­ing time, higher expec­ta­tions are some­thing that Alexander knows he will have to con­front after a strong sum­mer camp.

“My coaches already have high expec­ta­tions not only for me, but for the whole team,” said Alexander. “But I cer­tainly think that I’ll have a lit­tle more pres­sure on myself to per­form well this sea­son with all of the seniors that we lost from last year.”

Although expec­ta­tions are on the rise for Alexander, mak­ing improve­ments to his game is the main goal at the moment.

“I think I prob­a­bly improved my quick­ness in mak­ing deci­sions on the ice, espe­cially since I was play­ing with some of the best play­ers in the world around my age,” said Alexander. “My expec­ta­tions for this year are to just do a lot bet­ter than I did last year and I per­son­ally feel that I need to pro­duce for my team to help us reach our goals.”

The Bulldogs open the 2010–2011 sea­son at home on Oct. 2.n