Mill Creek couple pursues hockey passion

MILL CREEK — When Kent and Barbara Chaplin of Mill Creek decided to invest in hockey in Seattle, their purpose wasn’t to try to generate revenue.

Instead, they saw their share of the Seattle Thunderbirds as an opportunity to help the youth and to promote the sport they’ve come to love.

“You don’t invest in hockey for financial reward,” said Kent Chaplin. “If you break even, you’ve done a good job. It’s just putting back into the community and we’re passionate about that.”

Kent and Barbara purchased a share of the Thunderbirds three years ago, after advertising for the team through their car dealership for several years prior.

“We just want to get people involved and to get them to realize what a great spectator sport it is,” Barbara said.

The Chaplins first became involved with hockey when their youngest son decided to take the game up at age 13.

“When our son got involved, it was sort of an ‘Ahh ha’ moment, and I thought, ‘This game’s really cool,’” Barbara said.

“Barbara became passionate right away because she saw what it did for our son,” Kent said. “What hockey does, is instills some key elements that young people can use for life’s experiences. The work ethic is unbelievable, the team concept is unbelievable, the respect is unbelievable. All these key ingredients come from the game.”

Since their investment, the Chaplins have opened their home to players on the team. Those in the Western Hockey League are between ages 16 and 20, and come from all over North America and Europe.

“Sometimes you’re fortunate enough to have a kid for two or three years. It’s like your fourth child, in our case, our fourth son,” Kent said.

One of the players the couple has hosted is Oleg Saprykin, now a forward with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, who came to Mill Creek from Moscow.

“He came to the Seattle Thunderbirds as a baby,” Kent said. “When he got off the plane, he couldn’t speak English.”

But over time both Saprykin and the Chaplins exchanged values.

“This friendship blossomed with him and his family, they invited us to come visit them in Russia, and of course that was an experience we would’ve never had,” Barbara said.

But not all Western Hockey League players go on to play in the NHL or the minor leagues. The WHL offers players the opportunity to not only get their high school diploma while playing, but also gives them the opportunity to go to college if their professional careers never pan out.

“All our kids have high school diplomas, a lot of them are continuing through Lake Washington (Technical College),” Kent said. “But if they opt to, when they’re done with their Western Hockey League career, they call us up and we pay for the university tuition.”

And along with helping to provide foundations for the players, the Chaplins hope that the Thunderbirds will want to reciprocate.

“My wife Barbara came up with a school program, kind of a mentoring program to get kids in first through sixth (grades) to read,” Kent said. “The first school they did last year was John Muir Elementary. Well now they’re just avid fans of the kids and the teachers and staff.”

The Thunderbirds have also contributed over the years through the Microsoft Hockey Challenge, which raises money for the Ronald McDonald House.

By putting back into the community, the Chaplins hope people will be responsive.

“We just want to make sure that hockey stays here, and hopefully it grows. You don’t really do it for the money, but just to see what you can do for it,” Barbara said.